The Trek in a snapshot
Location
About 13 miles west of Caliente, Nevada
Managing Agency
BLM
Pets
Allowed
Fees
None
Restrooms
None
Camping
Not allowed
Trail Condition
Trail is in good condition. You are free to walk off trail if you wish
Sights
Small trilobite fossils
Water Info
Bring a bottle of water if needed
Best Season
All
Distance
We explored about 1/4 mile
Time Required
As long as you like
Parking Elevation
5780 ft
Summit Elevation
Varies
Elevation Difference
Varies
Trek Planner Maps
Oak Springs Trilobite Site: 37.613985°, -114.711731°
Experience. Discover. Explore.
Follow along on our adventure then go out on your own!
We had the chance to visit this trilobite site on our way home from a camping trip in the nearby area. We were somewhat confident that we could find a fossil or two as we spent about 45 minutes combing for trilobite.
The Oak Springs Trilobite Site is located on land owned by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management).
After reading over the information sign we learned that the fossils are mostly located in the shale rock. And luckily for us, my friend had brought his rock pick so we could really dig in and hopefully discover some cool stuff!
The BLM created a narrow dirt path called the Silver State Trail that you can follow around the area. But you are encouraged to go off the trail and see what you can find. This trail seemed to go for miles and we didn’t have enough time to go on all of it because we found tons of shale in the immediate area close by the parking lot to keep us busy.
We noticed that many of the shale piles were already ransacked by people and we quickly realized that we would probably not find much of anything unless we had hours to spend (which we unfortunately did not).
I personally found this area to be really neat! I enjoy the desert and wish we had time to explore around the mountains and see what else was here but our time was limited and we needed to head back home to Utah.
Although we were not successful in finding any fossils we did find plenty of neat rocks to check out.
Personal Thoughts
This would be a great area to stop for a break while travelling on the highway. This would also be a nice area for children to explore and be creative.