Jasper BurnsFossil Collecting in the Mid-Atlantic States: With Localities, Collecting Tips, and Illustrations of More than 450 Fossil Specimens

I knew I was going to travel to the mid-Atlantic states, so I ordered thia book from an Amazon vendor. Then my trip got fast-tracked, and I had to go before the book arrived. Luckily I had a few weekend hours to see the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum, and there I found the same book for twice the price, so I had a copy while I was there. My acquaintances in Virginia share my interest in fossils, and we easily picked out a few weekend field trips from the many collecting sites in the book.I've executed one of them already--the road cut on Rte 60, a couple of miles east of Lexington, VA. The Shenandoah Valley in mid-October is sublime, and the section of road-cut with the fossiliferous face exposed was dead-on right where the author described it. Based on my limited experience hunting mid-Atlantic fossils, I'd say this book is worth the price because it is right about the location information it gives. If you read carefully and go, things will probably be just like the book says. The book did everything for me except holding my hand--it organized sites by area, identified parking places, showed detailed sketches of common finds, ... Not any maps to speak of, but the author's good communication skills, and power of observation, make the book pretty darned easy to follow to a collecting site. The sketches provides good visual information to prime your eyes with, to know in advance what you're looking for. The drawings of fossils are instructive with lots of examples showing the textures and shapes of fossils found in the sites. Here is a fossil coral I found in the road cut outside of Lexington:[...]Next field trip: The Harrisburg, PA area for trilobites, as described in the book, it sounds promising and easy to reach and collect from.I do wish the book provided a concise discussion of Miocene fossil sites, I know there are many incredible things, like dinnerplate-sized scallop shells, and Megalodon teeth, found in grey marl clay of tidewater Virginia and Maryland. This fossil-bearing clay is common, so common that at times it has been mined for its high calcium content (from the fossil shells) and spread on agricultural plots to "sweeten" the soil, where soil acidity is higher than desired for crops.Perhaps USGS mineral maps or state-sponsored geological/mineral surveys would help me, but this book didn't go very far in that direction. But it is a great book about a topic that isn't nearly represented well enough in the book stores. I will use over and over!

I bought this book as a guide to help my children finding fossils to support their interests. Although it was published 20 years ago, it was easy to find the first two sites I looked for. I was afraid that the sites may have changed, or been obstructed in some way, but directions to locations, as well as indications of what to look for were clear and simple. I was able to find a near perfect trilobite fossil in the first 10 minutes! This is a GREAT book to use as a complete beginner.

At times it has a pulpy, amateurish feel to it, and some of the underlying paleontologyl discussion is dated, but it does exactly what it sets out to do and the drawings are wonderful.

I became curious about fossil collecting after discovering one near my home in Frostburg, MD. This book gives the locations of many fossil sites in MD. WV, VA, and DE. I was able to find a trilobite on my first outing to one of these locations. It would be better if the publisher had used photographs instead of drawings of fossils, but the sketches are adequate for identification.

This book should probably be called "Fossil Collecting In The Virginias and Surroundig Areas." Hardly encompasses the entire mid-Atlantic region. Not a single mention of NJ or Northern PA? The Catskills? Pretty disappointed. To be fair, I didn't read the description of the item beforehand, guess I shouldn't have assumed.

This book lists many places to collect fossils. I have been to some areas but check with property owners to see if collecting is still allowed.

Used the book to go collecting at one site in the book. Directions were clear and the site provided a lot of good finds

just what I wanted. Explicit directions and descriptions. Have just moved to VA andcan hardly wait until spring comes when we go exploring.Both parents and children enjoy this outdoor activity and learn basic facts aboutgeography and geology.