Following is a list of

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s where

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s are preserved, known as fossil parks or fossil reserves, worldwide by country.

Africa

Egypt

Wadi Al-Hitan - Valley of The Whales, Fayyoum, Western Desert

South Africa

West Coast Fossil Park The West Coast Fossil Park is a fossil park near Langebaanweg, Western Cape, South Africa, approximately north of Cape Town. The fossil sites of Langebaanweg have exceptionally well-preserved remains of fossil fauna that date to circa 5.2 millio ...

Langebaanweg Langebaanweg is a town on the southwest coast of South Africa, in Western Cape Province. It is the location of the air force base AFB Langebaanweg. Langebaanweg has been an important mining center, with its mai minerals consisting of phosphorite ...

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

Tanzania

Asia

India

There are two geological parks maintained by the

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

: *

Shivalik Fossil Park Shivalik Fossil Park, also known as the Suketi Fossil Park , is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument Mandla Plant Fossils National Park Ghughua Fossil Park is a National Park, located near Shahpura, Dindori, Shahpura in Madhya Pradesh, India, in which plant fossils belonging to 31 genera of 18 families have been identified. The site was founded during the 1970s by Dr. Dharmendr ...

Japan

Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum The is an archaeology museum in the city of Sendai in northern Japan that preserves a fossilized forest, where the remains of human habitation that occurred 20,000 years ago were discovered during surveying work in 1988. The museum opened in ...

houses a fossilized forest and human artifacts

Thailand

Australia

Victoria

Dinosaur Dreaming Dinosaur Dreaming is a paleontological site situated near Inverloch, Victoria, Australia. Remains of primitive mammals from the Cretaceous Age were first uncovered there in 1997 by researchers from Museum Victoria and the Monash University Science ...

Dinosaur Cove The Dinosaur Cove in Victoria, Australia is a fossil-bearing site in the south-east of the continent where the Otway Ranges meet the sea to the west of Cape Otway, adjacent to Great Otway National Park (''map''). The inaccessible ocean-front clif ...

Queensland

* Riversleigh

South Australia

* Lake Callabonna Fossil Reserve *

Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area __NOTOC__ The Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area is a group of fossil sites located in the Australian state of South Australia within the Tirari Desert in the north-eastern part of the state's Far North region. The group has an ...

* Maslin Bay -

Aldinga Bay Aldinga Bay is a bay located on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia about south-southwest of Adelaide city centre. Extent & description Aldinga Bay lies between Snapper Point in the suburb of Aldinga Beach at its northern ex ...

Geological Site *

Naracoorte Caves National Park Naracoorte Caves National Park is a national park near Naracoorte in the Limestone Coast tourism region in the south-east of South Australia (Australia). It was officially recognised in 1994 for its extensive fossil record when the site was ins ...

Nilpena Ediacara National Park __NOTOC__ Nilpena Ediacara National Park, comprising the former Ediacara Conservation Park and an additional , is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia about south west of the town of Leigh Creek in the state's F ...

* Willalinchina Sandstone Fossil Flora site, near Woomera

North America

Canada

Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre
Saskatchewan *

Dinosaur Provincial Park Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated a two hour drive east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; or , about a half-hour drive northeast of Brooks. The park is situated in the Red Deer River valley, which is noted for its strik ...

, Alberta *

Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park covers 23 ha of the Bulkley River Valley, on the east side of Driftwood Creek, a tributary of the Bulkley River, 10 km nort ...

, British Columbia *

Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered ...

(

Burgess Shale The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest foss ...

) UNESCO site, British Columbia *

Joggins Fossil Cliffs Joggins is a rural community located in western Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. On July 7, 2008 a 15-km length of the coast constituting the Joggins Fossil Cliffs was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List.McAbee Fossil Beds The McAbee Fossil Beds is a Heritage Site that protects an Eocene Epoch fossil locality east of Cache Creek, British Columbia, Canada, just north of and visible from Provincial Highway 97 / the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1). The McAbee Fos ...

Heritage Site * Parc national de Miguasha UNESCO site, Quebec

United States

Arizona

Petrified Forest National Park Petrified Forest National Park is an American national park in Navajo County, Arizona, Navajo and Apache County, Arizona, Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about , encompassin ...

California

La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the gro ...

Petrified Forest Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ''P ...

, Calistoga CA

Colorado

Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is in ...

, in Northwest Colorado and North-East Utah. *

Dinosaur Ridge Dinosaur Ridge is a segment of the Dakota Hogback in the Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark located in Jefferson County, Colorado, near the town of Morrison and just west of Denver. The Dinosaur Ridge area is one of the world's most ...

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument The Florissant Formation is a sedimentary geologic formation outcropping around Florissant, Teller County, Colorado. The formation is noted for the abundant and exceptionally preserved insect and plant fossils that are found in the mudstones and ...

Connecticut

Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum is a state-owned natural history preserve occupying in the town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The state park protects one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America. The park was created in recognition ...

Florida

Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park is a Florida State Park located at mile marker 85.5 near Islamorada. It was a former quarry used by Henry Flagler in the early 1900s to help his building of the Overseas Railroad. Following the railr ...

Idaho

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument near Hagerman, Idaho, contains the largest concentration of Hagerman horse fossils in North America. The fossil horses for which the monument is famous have been found in only one locale in the northern por ...

Indiana

Falls of the Ohio State Park Falls of the Ohio State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is located on the banks of the Ohio River at Clarksville, Indiana, across from Louisville, Kentucky. The park is part of the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conserv ...

Iowa

* Fossil and Prairie Park Fossilized leaves are one of many found here. * Devonian Fossil Gorge at

Coralville Lake Coralville Lake is an artificial lake in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, formed by the Coralville Dam, a dam built from 1949 to 1958 on the Iowa River upstream from the city of Coralville, Iowa. History After widespread flooding in the Unit ...

Maryland

Dinosaur Park Dinosaur Park is a tourist attraction in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. Dedicated on May 22, 1936, it contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city, created to capitalize on the tourists coming to the Black Hills to s ...

Massachusetts

Dinosaur Footprints A fossil track or ichnite (Greek "''ιχνιον''" (''ichnion'') – a track, trace or footstep) is a fossilized footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. A fossil trackway is a sequence of fossil tracks left by a single organism. Over the year ...

Michigan

Rockport Quarry Rockport may refer to: Locations Canada *Rockport, New Brunswick *Rockport, Ontario United States *Rockport, Arkansas *Rockport, California *Rockport, Illinois *Rockport, Indiana **Rockport Generating Station *Rockport, Kentucky *Rockport, Maine ...

, an abandoned limestone quarry near Alpena open to collecting

Mississippi

Mississippi Petrified Forest Mississippi Petrified Forest is a petrified forest located near Flora, Mississippi in the United States. It is privately owned and open for public visits. The forest is believed to have been formed 36 million years ago when fir and maple logs washe ...

Nebraska

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is a U.S. National Monument near Harrison, Nebraska. The main features of the monument are a valley of the Niobrara River and the fossils found on Carnegie Hill and University Hill. The area largely consists of ...

* Ashfall State Historical Park

Nevada

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, a United States National Monument near Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, was established in 2014 to protect Ice Age paleontological discoveries. The monument is administered by the National Park Servic ...

New Jersey

Poricy Park

New Mexico

Clayton Lake State Park Clayton Lake State Park is a state park of New Mexico, United States, featuring a recreational reservoir and a fossil trackway of dinosaur footprints. It is located north of Clayton, New Mexico, Clayton, close to New Mexico's border with Colora ...

Prehistoric Trackways National Monument Prehistoric Trackways National Monument is a national monument in the Robledo Mountains of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States, near the city of Las Cruces. The monument's Paleozoic Era fossils are on of land administered by the Bureau ...

New York
Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve

Ohio

Hueston Woods State Park Hueston Woods State Park is a state park located in Butler and Preble counties of the U.S. state of Ohio, about five miles (8 km) northeast of Oxford in the southwestern part of the state. The park lies in Oxford Township, Butler County, ...

* Trammel Fossil Park,

Sharonville, Ohio Sharonville is a city largely in Hamilton County, Ohio, Hamilton county in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 13,560 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Of this, 11,197 lived in Hamilton County and 2,363 lived in the southeast co ...

Oregon

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is a U.S. national monument in Wheeler and Grant counties in east-central Oregon. Located within the John Day River basin and managed by the National Park Service, the park is known for its well-preserved l ...

South Dakota

The Mammoth Site The Mammoth Site is a museum and paleontological site near Hot Springs, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. It is an active paleontological excavation site at which research and excavations are continuing. The facility encloses a prehistoric sinkh ...

Fossil Cycad National Monument Fossil Cycad National Monument was a national monument in the U.S. state of South Dakota beginning in 1922. The site contained hundreds of fossil cycads, one of the world's greatest concentrations. Because vandals stole or destroyed all of the vi ...

(No longer exists)

Texas

Dinosaur Valley State Park Dinosaur Valley State Park is a state park near Glen Rose, Texas, United States. History Dinosaur Valley State Park, located just northwest of Glen Rose in Somervell County, Texas, is a scenic park set astride the Paluxy River. The land for ...

* Ladonia Fossil Park,

Ladonia, Texas Ladonia is a town in Fannin County, Texas, United States. Its population was 612 at the 2010 census. History The area was first settled around 1840. Originally called McCownville, its name was changed to Ladonia in 1857, supposedly in honor of A ...

* Mineral Wells Fossil Park,

Mineral Wells, Texas Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,788 at the 2010 census (14,644 in Palo Pinto and 2144 in Parker). The city is named for mineral wells in the area, which were highly popu ...

Utah

Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Escalante Petrified Forest State Park (also known as Escalante State Park) is a state park of Utah, USA, located a half-mile (0.8 km) north of the town of Escalante. A visitor center was built in 1991, and features displays of plant and ma ...

Wyoming

Fossil Butte National Monument Fossil Butte National Monument is a United States National Monument managed by the National Park Service, located west of Kemmerer, Wyoming, United States. It centers on an assemblage of Eocene Epoch (56 to 34 million years ago) animal and pla ...

Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite is an assemblage of fossil dinosaur footprints on public land near Shell, in Big Horn County, Wyoming. They were discovered in 1997 by Erik P. Kvale, a research geologist from the Indiana Geological Survey. The site ...

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

South America and Central America

Argentina

Ischigualasto Ischigualasto Provincial Park ( es, Parque Provincial Ischigualasto), also called ''Valle de la Luna'' ("Valley of the Moon" or "Moon Valley"), due to its moon like appearance, is a provincial protected area in the north-east of San Juan Provinc ...

is located in San Juan province

Bolivia

Cal Orcko Cal Orck’o is a fossil bed in Bolivia. It is located in a quarry approximately 4.4 km northwest of Sucre (Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia) in the Cordillera Oriental (Bolivia), Altiplano/Cordillera Oriental, in the El Molino Formation (Maa ...

Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...

Brazil

Paleorrota Geopark is located in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossil parks Lists of buildings and structures Lists of parks Paleontological sites Paleontology lists Fossil parks Lists of protected areas

Africa

Egypt

South Africa

Tanzania

Asia

India

Japan

Thailand

Australia

Australia

Victoria

Queensland

South Australia

North America

Canada

United States

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Idaho

Indiana

Iowa

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Mississippi

Nebraska

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

Ohio

Oregon

South Dakota

Texas

Utah

Wyoming

South America and Central America

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

See also

References