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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:
July 6, 2025

"Behind-the-scenes" tour of the La Brea Tar Pits

FULL - The limit has been reached.
The La Brea Tar Pits has offered a one-hour, behind-the-scenes tour of the La Brea Tar Pits. It will be from 11 am to 12 pm, noon, on Sunday, July 6. Admission is free.
The free parking for the first 8 cars is now full. Members can sign up but will have to pay parking.
IMPORTANT: ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST HAVE CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP. (No friends, etc.)

Trip Leader:

Dennis Rainey

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:
TRIP IS FULL. LIMIT HAS BEEN REACHED. - 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

TRIP IS FULL. LIMIT HAS BEEN REACHED.
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

Active Members, RSVP to Attend:
February 13, 2026

Death Valley, California

Feb. 13, 14 & 15, 2026
Dr. Torrey Nyborg will be our on-site trip leader in Death Valley National Park.

Tentative itinerary: Members will travel Friday, Feb. 13 to hotels near Death Valley (5 hour drive from Los Angeles, (if not rush hour). On Saturday and Sunday mornings our group will meet at specified locations. Locations and activities have not been determined, as weather conditions / rain will determine which sites will be visited. More details will be available in the fall. SCPS members enjoyed a successful Death Valley trip in 2024. On Sunday afternoon, members will drive home. (Some members may go a day or two early, or stay longer to visit other sites).

Having done considerable research in Death Valley over many years, Dr. Nyborg is an expert on Death Valley
and teaches in the Department of Earth and Biological Sciences at Loma Linda University.
This is a great educational trip for kids (10 y.o. or older). as well as for us older kids.
MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW.
EVERY PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A CURRENT SCPS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF THE TRIP.

Trip Leader:

Dennis Rainey

Active Members, RSVP to Attend:

©2024 Southern California Paleontological Society Registered 501(c)(3)

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