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The Cambrian Trilobite Fossil Hunt at the House Range in Utah Trip

If you want to find your own Trilobites in Utah, from the same formation shown here, check out the family friendly U-Dig quarry near Delta!

The night air was cool and crisp, quite contrary to the day. The darkness was deep, as civilization was far beyond the horizon. The silence was deafening, save for an occasional "rattle" from a nearby dead rattlesnake blowing in the wind. Armed with UV lights, two small groups slowly crept through the desert. "There's one!" shouted someone from one of the groups. Evading the prickly flora, the two groups quickly came together encircling a neon green scorpion. "Look, he's in his attack position." After marveling for a moment, the two groups separated, looking for more critters. Eventually, when everyone had their fill of scorpions, they returned to the campfire. Leisurely, as the night went on, one by one, people retired to their tents and campers that were haphazardly scattered around the "base camp."

After Amy and I had downed a bottle of wine around the fire and finished marveling at Van Gogh's "Starry Night," painted overhead, we too returned to our tent, planning the next day's events. Tomorrow would be a busy day of digging, as this was the 2nd Trilobite Jam and we were camping in the House Range of Utah, a world famous trilobite locality.

The American Trilobite Suppliers generously host a 4 day "Trilobite Jam" at one of their properties in Utah. Their property in the House Range contains the Wheeler and Marjum formations. They have numerous small quarries dotting the property exposing the two Cambrian formations. The Wheeler and Marjum formations at the House Range are world renowned. The Wheeler shale supplies the world with Elrathia kingii trilobites, probably the most well known trilobite on earth. Other trilobites include Asaphiscus wheeleri, small agnostid trilobites such as Peronopsis, and the rare Olenoides nevadensis with cool axial spines. Besides trilobites, there is an echinoderm called a Gogia spiralis that looks like a water hydra with little plates all over it. The wheeler shale produces bugs that range in colors from black and orange to a beautiful red!

The Marjum formation has some rare, beautiful, and large trilobite fossils! These include Modocia sp., Bathyuriscus fimbriatus, the 5" Hemirhodon amplipyge, and the prized 6" Olenoides superbus with its incredible axial spines!

Each day, we picked a couple different quarries to collect at. We picked one for in the morning, took a short rest, food, and water break in the extreme heat of the day, then headed to one or two more in the late afternoon. Then in the evening we headed to a spring a few miles away to wash up.

Since this was our first time in this type of fossil shale, we mainly stayed in quarries that had the more common trilobites. As novices here, we were unable to tell which specimens would be complete when prepped. We learned later that we carried way more back to the camp than what actually turned out to be great specimens. We ended up brining home two boxes of specimens. Most of them turned out to be cheekless, headless, or crushed. However, we still ended up with eight complete ones (minus the dozen or so agnostids and some tiny Elrathia). The best one is a beautiful complete ~3" carmel colored Asaphiscus wheeleri specimen.

The event was run very well and the site couldn't have been better. Jason, Jake, and the rest of the crew did a wonderful job hosting the jam. They were all incredibly friendly and helped out in any way possible!

Below are tons of photos and a sample of some of the trilobites and other fossils from the Utah trip.

If you want to find your own Trilobites in Utah, from the same formation shown here, check out the family friendly U-Dig quarry near Delta!

To learn about some of the Trilobites found during the trip, and trilobites in general, visit the Trilobite Gallery.

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Pictures around the House Range, where the Wheeler Shale is exposed

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Below are the fossil found from the Trilobite Hunt

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