fossil-butte | WY | Find park

A dark brown, football-shaped fossil fish with a fan-shaped tail and spines standing up on its back.

Cockerellites liops is one of the more commonly found fishes in and around Fossil Butte National Monument.

Hills with tan and red sediments partially covered with green vegetation.

The red and purple layers of the Wasatch Formation sit below the ridgeline of Fossil Butte.

A fossil frog facing left with its back legs splayed out.

Only two fossil frogs have been found in the sediments remaining from Fossil Lake.

The moon over a snow-covered Fossil Butte, the namesake of the park.

A dark brown, long, thin fossil fish with a forked tail

Knightia eocaena is the most common fossil fish found in and around Fossil Butte National Monument.

A green valley with a ridgeline across the way with a tan top not covered with vegetation.

View of Fossil Butte from Cundick Ridge

A fossil of a turtle with a short tail about the same length as the legs

Echmatemys wyomingensis was a pond turtle that lived in ancient Fossil Lake.

A butte with sagebrush and blue flowers on long stalks in the foreground.

Fossil Butte with blue flax flowers in the foreground

Physical Address:

864 Chicken Creek Road

Kemmerer, WY 83101

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 592

Kemmerer, WY 83101

contact-details

Phone Number: 3078774455 Voice

Email Address: fobu_information@nps.gov
Description:

Fees

Entrance Fees

Entrance Passes

In the ridges of southwest Wyoming are some of the best-preserved fossils in the world. They tell the story of ancient life in a warm, wet environment in and around a freshwater lake. Stingrays swam in the lake. Turtles basked in the sun. Leaves rustled in the breeze while early horses darted between the trunks. We reveal more of the past with each fossil found.

park designation:National Monument

Directions:

By car: Travel 9 miles west of Kemmerer, Wyoming on U.S. Highway 30. There is a highway sign near mile post 44; turn right onto Lincoln County Road 300. The Historic Quarry Trail is approximately 1/2 mile on the right. Continue west on County Road 300 for approximately 1.5 miles to Chicken Creek Road which provides access to the visitor center, scenic drive, Nature Trail and picnic area. Closest airports: Rock Springs, Wyoming (130 miles); Salt Lake City, Utah (150 miles).

For detailed directions, please visit this link.

Directions

Operating Hours:

Fossil Butte National Monument

Visitors may enter the park any day sunrise to sunset, but visitor services and motor vehicle access vary throughout the year. Camping is not available.

Weather Information:

Expect a variety of weather conditions no matter what time of year you visit. Spring, fall and winter can be very cold with snow and icy conditions. In spring, daytime temperatures usually range from 30 F to 65 F. Summer daytime temperatures range from 60 F to 90 F. Fall daytime temperatures range from 45 F to 70 F. Winter daytime temperatures range from -20 F to 30 F.