CynVamp

Hi everyone, I'm new here and have a quick question.....When I was younger I used to go fossil hunting with my family on the North Sulphur River. My boyfriend and I are planning a trip of our own, only I don't remember where we used to go (near what cities) or where the best places to fossil hunt along the river are. We're coming from Dallas and if anyone knows what towns we should be headed for, PLEASE let me know. Thanks so much!!

~Cynthia

hiwayman

Hi,

My wife and I used to go to the hway 19/24 bridge and just wade the river bed during periods of low water between Cooper and Paris I think. It has been many years for us as well. We always looked for shark teeth. One time my wife found 3 arrowheads. We still have many of the fossilized shells she brought back from hunting trips when she was a youngster. I have heard many stories of either wooly mammoth or mastadon excavations in the NSR channel. I was also told about a dinosaur exhibit which was being built along some road at the NS river crossing, just don't remember what road. I would be very interested to hear about how your trip went. My wife and I have talked of making the same trip again sometime soon. I was afraid that access might be an issue this day and time.

CynVamp

We had a WONDERFUL trip! We went to 3 bridges, all on county roads. One North of Ladonia, One North-East of Wolfe City and One North of Pecan Gap. One we were able to drive my 4x4 SUV right down into the river bed.

After all the rain we have had this summer, we were shocked at how low the river was, we only saw 3 PUDDLES! None deeper than 4 inches of water! We came home with 3 large buckets full of fossils and bones, our best finds being a near mint condition Mosasaur vertabrae and a near mint 2 inch long Mosasaur tooth that is beautiful. Mosasaur was a 65 Million year old giant crocodile-like river lizard that was 30-60 feet long.

We also found lots of tiny Gastropod shells, and other shells, bones, and fossils. Well worth the trip and we plan on going again this fall. Our puppy really loved digging and she found quite a few nice things too.

The only thing I hadn't remembered was just how steep the banks are. If you have knee or ankle problems like I do, be prepared to hurt for a few days after climbing up and down them! Also be careful and watch for spiders, there were thousands crawling in the river bed, many Brown Recluses.