A few Virginia State Parks host real fossils, proof of a bygone era evidenced by bones, teeth, and shells liberally scattered along the river shorelines in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Favorite places to hunt for fossils are Chippokes State Park on the James River, Westmoreland State Park on the Potomac River, and York River State Park on Fossil Beach.

These three parks sit on ancient sea beds and are the most likely to find fossils easily. You are not permitted to dig or use tools to find these fossils, so it is important for a fossil hunter to know where to find them. Usually, you are not allowed to remove anything natural in our parks, so while we allow you to take fossils and shells, we ask that you hunt all you want but take only a few. York River stipulates only one find per person.

This article will focus on the parks that host fossil hunting programs (mentioned above) with the abundance of fossils and ease of finding. A park interpreter typically leads these.

Discover some relics like these pictured at York River State Park's Fossil Beach. Fossil programs are fun for the whole family, school groups, church groups, or whoever wants a neat field trip to York River State Park.

Shark's Teeth found at Westmoreland State Park

Our State Fossil

Chesapecten jeffersonius is the state fossil of the State of Virginia in the United States. It is the fossilized form of an extinct scallop, which lived in the early Pliocene epoch between four and five million years ago on Virginia's coastal plain. In 1687, Martin Lister published a drawing of C. jeffersonius, making it the first North American fossil illustrated in scientific literature.

In 1824, geologist John Finch gathered a large collection of mollusk fossils, including Chesapecten jeffersonius, in the vicinity of Yorktown, Virginia, and gave them to scientists at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP).

Scientist Thomas Say, at ANSP, described the species and named it Pecten jeffersonius to honor Thomas Jefferson.

Low Tide

Low tide is the best time to hunt fossils at Chippokes State Park on the Historic James River of Virginia.

Beachcombing along the James River ancient fossil beds at Chippokes State Park and stepping among the fossils is just plain cool!

Here is an underwater fossil scene along the shoreline at Chippokes. Keep an eye out for a giant Megalodon tooth.

The York, Potomac and James rivers feed into the Chesapeake Bay, so they have tidal brackish water. What this means for fossil hunters is that the best time to make ancient discoveries along the shoreline is when the tide is out, revealing a much larger beach and less picked over terrain. 

Programs

Search our events database to find fossil programs or call the park directly. There may be a cost for some programs, and it is fun for all ages, but the best part is that participants are permitted to keep their favorite fossil as a souvenir. You will learn more about what came before us, long before state parks were along these rivers or even a river. Early whales, porpoises, sharks, clams, scallops, and snails all left traces of their existence which we now discover as fossils. 

Be Prepared

If you plan to fossil hunt when the weather warms up, be sure to bring along the usually required items, i.e., a bottle of water, sunscreen, bug spray and maybe even a hat. Wear shoes that you plan to get wet like water shoes, and bring a camera to take photos of the adventure and any hidden gems you uncover.

Whether you are young or consider yourself a relic, you will have fun along the shorelines of these three Virginia State Parks when you participate in a fossil walk.