Fossil Butte National Monument

Parks Directory of the United States / US National Parks / National Monuments

Address:PO Box 592
Kemmerer, WY 83101
Phone:307-877-4455
Fax:307-877-4457
Web: www.nps.gov/fobu/
Size: 8,198 acres.
Established: Established on October 23, 1972.
Location:In southwestern Wyoming, near the intersection of US 189 and US 30.
Facilities:Picnic area, visitor center, museum/exhibit, self-guided tour/trail.
Activities:Hiking, horseback riding, guided tour.
Special Features:This 50-million-year-old lake bed is one of the richest fossil localities in the world. The most noteworthy record of freshwater fossil fish ever found in the United States is preserved here. Fossil insects, snails, turtles, birds, bats, and plant remains are also found in the 50-million-year-old rock layers. Today, Fossil Butte is a semi-arid landscape of flat-topped buttes and ridges dominated by sagebrush, other desert shrubs, and grasses.

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References in periodicals archive

New Clean Air Act standards and favorable economic conditions are spurring the industry to apply for drilling permits around Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado, Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, Gauley River National Recreation Area and New River Gorge National River in West Virginia, and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas, he adds.

Over a barrel

Fossil Butte National Monument protects a portion of this ancient lakebed.

For more information, write to Fossil Butte National Monument, P.O.

Frozen in time: some of the world's most significant deposits of fossils are preserved in U.S. national parks

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