Petrified Forest Field Institute
Petrified Forest NP, AZ
June 14 & Aug 9, 2025
18+
(Minors 14+ must be accompanied)
Can't make it this year? Join the waitlist for next year's dig!
Participation is subject to availability and is at the full discretion of the dig location. Prices and dates dates subject to change. All Terms + Conditions apply.
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About Petrified Forest Field Institute
Petrified Forest National Park is deservedly known as one of the best records of Late Triassic paleontology and geology in the world. New plant and animal fossil discoveries, including Pseudosuchian and Ornithodiran archosaurs, dating back over 200 million years are found with impressive regularity. These finds are rewriting the Triassic fossil record and are continuing to expand our knowledge of this seminal time in the history of life on our planet. And you can be a part of it all!
Citizen science fossil digs are instrumental in assisting park paleontologists with the crucial work of excavation. There are two different dig experiences available to join. The One-day Fossil Dig Discovery and Excavation and a six-day overnight camping excavation and fossil survey called Paleontology in the Land of Color- A Fossil Survey of Petrified Forest National Park
Fossils found: Revueltosaurus, Aetosaurs, Shuvosaurids, Poposaurids and Rauisuchids, Crocodylomorphs, Pterosaurs, Silesaurids, Coelophysis, Chindesaurus and petrified wood
Period: Triassic
Formation: Chinle
All the digs featured on Ancient Odysseys are non-profits and rely upon visitors and donations to continue their important scientific work. Please consider donating if you would like to support this organization's mission. All donations are tax deductible.
One-Day Fossil Dig Discovery + Excavation at Petrified Forest Field Institute | What's Included
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8am-4:30pm
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Limited to 10 participants per session
Prepare to get dirty digging in the Triassic Chinle Formation for fossil bones of giant amphibians, reptiles, and even early dinosaurs. Join Adam Marsh, lead paleontologist at the park for this one-day introduction to paleontology field work.
You’ll start the day with a behind the scenes tour of the park fossil collections and then be driven ‘off the beaten’ path to work for about five hours at the research quarry and dig site. While there, participants will work closely with park paleontology crew to learn to identify fossils from rock and carefully excavate specimens.
This is a real-life adventure where participants participate in a real paleontological dig. That means you’ll be working on your hands and knees in the dirt using light hand tools and brushes, but there is no heavy digging or lifting. Depending on what the day turns up, you could be casting fossils to carry out using plaster and burlap.
Any and all collected specimens become part of the park’s museum collection!
Click here for more details on what to expect on a paleontology dig.
What's Included
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Transportation to and from the dig site from the visitor center
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All training and tools including hammers and chisels, pickaxes, sledgehammers, trowels, brushes and awls.
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Lunch of a cold sandwich and water to refill bottles
No accommodations are provided in the cost.
What To Bring
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Protective clothing including long sleeves and long pants
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Sturdy shoes
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Hat
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Refillable water bottles
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Sun-protection
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Snacks
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Light daypack
An interview with Adam Marsh, PhD| Lead Paleontologist | Petrified Forest National Park
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What makes your site significant?
These sites have produced Triassic fossils that represent the earliest frogs in North America, the first records of certain fish and reptile species outside of the Eastern Hemisphere and Antarctica, and the world's oldest caecilian. -
What has been most surprising about your discoveries at this location?
These sites are so fossil-rich that virtually anyone has the chance to make an important discovery any time we visit them. -
What are your current research objectives at your site?
We are seeking to understand more about the small-bodied animals living ~220 million years ago during the Late Triassic. Like today, the vast majority of vertebrate biodiversity in the Triassic came from small animals, but these are often under-represented in the fossil record due to their fragility and the lack of previous collections efforts.