Metropolitan Fossils

In celebration of National Fossil Day, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area hosted a free event and showed attendees that fossils can be found anywhere, even in the middle of the Twin Cities.

By KJ Inskeep

A small group of hikers and fossil enthusiasts of all ages met at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in St. Paul. We were greeted by a table of large fossils: petrified wood, conglomerates of crinoids, and even a fossilized sand dollar the size of my hand. Park Ranger Abby Olsen then told us about the geology of the Mississippi River and Twin Cities area and explained how the regions’ layers of sandstone, shale, and limestone allowed for fossils to form and then resurface for us to find. We then embarked on a short hike, which took us into “the entrance of the ‘Secret Garden,’” as Park Ranger Olsen called it, a hidden trail along a small spring encased by trees. Orange and red leaves littered the ground on the walk, and we spotted mushrooms and wasp nests along the trail. 

Our final stop was a steep fossil bed, where we searched for fossils for the remainder of the event. Park Ranger Olsen and other volunteers passed out guides and helped identify fossils while also looking for themselves. We shared the most interesting of our finds with each other: brachiopods stuck to bryozoans, conglomerates of many fossils, and gear-shaped crinoids. Before hiking out of the fossil bed, all of the fossils we found did have to be returned, as St. Paul does not allow fossils to be collected without a permit. Not having a permit certainly didn’t keep this group from connecting with the past or with the nature around us.