Fossil digs?? (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Payson: scorpions, land, best time)

[sarahrose]

Are there any areas to dig for gemstones, fossils, or trilobites anywhere close to Scottsdale??

[wit-nit]

Unless you have permission from a private party land owner or State Government Agency for public land, there are no places openly to do what you are asking.

[shiphead]

what about the dinosaur park off of the I-40?

I know its not close, but thats what came to mind.

[wit-nit]

It's privately owned and being preserved as a park.

[KarmaPhx]

I did a simple google search and this turned up:
Arizona

On the way from Tucsyan to the Canyon the roadcuts are Kaibab L.S. and contain a variety of fossils in the cherty L.S. This is Penn/Perm and contains gastropods, brachiopods, echinoids and more. It should be possible to pull out a trilobite. Make sure you are not on Park property when you collect at this location.
The best paleozoic locality in the state is near Payson, a little town is a couple of hours NE of Phoenix. Once there go 10 miles East to where the road makes a fairly sharp bend N. (If you get to Kohl's Ranch Resort, you've gone too far.) Here the roadcuts and one wash where you will undoubtedly see others collecting, are the Naco Gp. (Pennsylvanian) and abundantly fossiliferous. The dominant two fossils are the brachiopods Composita sp. and Productus sp. From this spot eastwards for a few miles all the roadcuts are fossiliferous with the same Gp.
Winkleman, AZ. - Roadcuts near Winkleman, south of Globe, along AZ-77, contain fossils of the Naco Group, marine Penn/Perm in high limestone cliffs interbedded with thin layers of shale. This site is used by the paleo. classes of the U/Az so the best time to go is winter, and just before the fall session starts. It can get pretty hot here so sunscreen & hats are a must. If you walk up the spillway you can find large shale exposures on the old highway (barely recognizable now). The most common fossils are crinoidal, with abundant columnal segments some 1 cm diameter. Some trilobites have been found here and brachiopods. Do not park along the road or you will be ticketed. There are pull-outs on the opposite side.There can be rattlers, desert centipedes (up to 6" length) and scorpions in the warmer weather so gloves are wise. Never turn a rock with your hands, always use a hammer. Photos of the site can be seen at: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill (http://www.fortunecity.com/banners/interstitial.html?http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/%7Erhill/ - broken link).

[crazyme4878]

Originally Posted by nitram

Unless you have permission from a private party land owner or State Government Agency for public land, there are no places openly to do what you are asking.

You can rock hunt on Forest Service land almost as much as you want. Check into the federal mining laws. Not sure about fossils.

[wit-nit]

Not unless you have permission from the BLM and stake a claim:
Solid Minerals Brochure

[crazyme4878]

I'm talking about National Forest Land, not BLM land. Different agencies, different rules. The NF follows the 1872 Mining Act.

Here is a link to rock hounding and prospecting in the Tonto NF. Here is the general page for them.

If you want the entire Act, here it is from THOMAS, as listed in the U.S. Code (it is huge, so have fun), or here is Wikipedia's entry for quicker reading.

[wit-nit]

Danka, for the site. This differs from what I was informed of several years ago by the Forest Svc at the GC and by the BLM. We had to get a permit that we carried with us when we went out about 10 years ago.

[JesseJames34]

A lot happens in a decade. lol