Field Trips
Collect, Tour, and Explore!
Field trips are fun experiences for all ages! For safety and insurance purposes, an active Membership is required to attend field trips, and a guardian must be present along with anyone that is younger than 18 years old. RSVPs are handled on a first-come first-served basis. Some trips have a high attendance limit, but many have a low limit, so it enhances everyone's experience if you RSVP/cancel promptly.
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Fossil Collecting
Trips to collect usually take place in the Southern California area, but trips periodically travel much further! Members have had the opportunity to collect specimens such as trilobites from the Lower Cambrian, shark teeth and mammal bones from the Miocene, and sand dollars from the Pliocene. (Don't know your Eras from your Epoch's? Download our free "Ages of the Earth" poster PDF here!)
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Museum and Locality Tours
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Touring trips give SoCalPaleo Members access to view important paleontological sites across the American West, or they give Members access to behind-the-scenes tours at notable museums!
Calendar
April 19, 2025
Sharktooth Hill Caruso Property
April 19 = THE TRIP IS FULL.
Miocene marine fossils, including whale and dolphin vertebrae and shark teeth.
Sharktooth trip has a $60. cash fee
LIMIT: The limit is 35 members. As of Jan. 5, 2025, there are 26 on the trip list.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.
Trip Leader:
Dennis Rainey
Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
June 14, 2025
Isla Vista - north of Santa Barbara
June 14: Nice beach location! There are plentiful clams, oysters and mussels, and some gastropods from the late Pleistocene epoch.
No limit.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.
Trip Leader:
Tanielle Redman
Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
August 13, 2025
5 day trip to Utah, Wyoming & Idaho (Aug. 13 - 17, 2025)
Wed., Aug. 13: Members will arrive in Vernal, UT. Thurs. morning, Aug. 14: The group will drive to a site near Bonanza, UT.
In the afternoon, we will drive to Kemmerer, WY.
Fri. morning, Aug. 15: Members will caravan to Fossil Lake Safari, a privately owned quarry near Kemmerer, in search of fossil fish from the Green River Formation - (Eocene). Friday afternoon, the group will drive to Montpelier, ID.
Sat., Aug. 16: The group will caravan to Spence Gulch, ID (trilobites), with maybe a couple of other short stops along the way.
Saturday afternoon, most members will begin the drive home, with some driving to southern UT for the night and then arriving home on Sunday, Aug. 17.
This trip has a limit of 25, IMPORTANT: If you are considering this trip, sign up early, and make your hotel reservations well in advance.
For an itinerary and hotel information, email Dennis: dennisrainey@yahoo.com
The weather should be nice, with average temperatures: Bonanza (90), Kemmerer (81), Spence Gulch (81).
There is a fee to be paid to the quarry operator in Kemmerer. The amount depends on the quarry. (Maybe $80 (kids <17). - $160. (adults >= 17) . There are no fees for Bonanza or Spence Gulch.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.
Trip Leader:
Patrick Hsieh & Dennis Rainey
Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
September 13, 2025
Chivo Canyon
September 13: Members will do an easy walk for about a mile collecting marine fossils, mainly gastropod mollusks, with Turritella (sea snails) being the most common genus found. The fossils are found in the Llajas geological formation of Chivo Canyon, and are from the early to middle Eocene (around 50 million years ago).
No Limit.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.Sept
Trip Leader:
Zach Mekelburg
Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
October 9, 2025
4 day trip to Nevada, visiting 4 to 5 fossil sites, with the first site being the Hazen quarry near Fernley, Nevada. (Oct. 9 - 12, 2025)
Oct. 9: Drive to Fallon, Nevada.
Friday morning, Oct. 10: Our adventure begins with collecting fish fossils at the Hazen quarry, (Three-spine Stickleback fish and Nevada Killifish) from the Miocene epoch.
Oct. 11: We will collect Miocene leaf fossils near Fallon, NV, and if time permits, another nearby site.
Sunday, Oct. 12: We will visit New York Canyon, near Luning Nevada in search of late Triassic sponges, ammonites, other marine fossils.
Sunday afternoon, some members may visit the historic mining town Virginia City and brag about our fossils over a group dinner, while others will drive home.
No Limit.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.
Trip Leader:
Dennis Rainey and Kim Slaughter
Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
November 8, 2025
Sharktooth Hill (Tohill property)
November 8:
THIS TRIP IS FULL - Fossils commonly found here include shark teeth, whale or dolphin bones / vertebrae, etc. They have been identified as belonging to the Round Mountain Silt Formation, Miocene in age (15 - 16 million years old).
There is a fee to be paid to the property owner. The amount, to be determined, depends on the property.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.Nov
Trip Leader:
Mimi Anaya
Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
January 10, 2026
Ocotillo localities
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2 pm: Kwasi Gilbert has made arrangements for SCPS members to participate in a behind-the-scenes tour of the San Diego Natural History Museum, located in Balboa Park.
Sunday, Jan. 11, 8:30 am: Members will meet near Ocotillo, CA to collect fossils at 2 - 4 localities. Suggestion: Visit Balboa Park Saturday morning (several museums, restaurants and things to see) and then do the museum tour Saturday afternoon. Then spend Saturday night in the San Diego / El Cajon area, and collect fossils on Sunday. It's a 1-hour drive from El Cajon to Ocotillo (1 hr, 20 mins from San Diego). Depending on the locality, the marine fossils include: bivalves, gastropods, oysters from the Eocene epoch.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.
Trip Leader:
Dennis Rainey and Trinette & Joe Chuang