About Fossil Park
Travel back in time 375-million-years ago when Northwest Ohio was a great sea teeming with life.
Experience that reality today at Fossil Park in Sylvania, Ohio. Fossil Park is one of just a handful of parks of its kind in the nation, and the Sylvania area is one of only two prime Devonian Era sites on the entire planet. Visit Fossil Park and search for these world-renowned fossils in an ADA-accessible 5-acre rock quarry in a safe and controlled environment.
TOPS prohibits tools of any kind in Fossil Park. The Devonians come from Hanson Aggregate Midwest's large working quarries a mile south of Fossil Park and are already in shale soft enough to break with your bare hands.
Bring a brush to assist in cleaning your fossils, as well as something in which to carry your buried treasures home with you. An egg carton is excellent for smaller children, and a milk jug with the top removed but handle intact is great too. See the links at the bottom of the page for information on the fossils you can find and even cut-outs to put inside egg cartons for your kids.
Pets are not allowed down in the fossil pit, though they are allowed in the parking lot and on the bike trail that circles the pit.
Admission is FREE! Parking is FREE! The fossils you find are FREE!
Fossil Park Hours:
May 29 to August 29: 8:30am to 8pm
August 30 to September 6: 8:30am to 7:30pm
September 7 to 30: 8:30am to 7pm
October 1 to 17: 8:30am to 6:30pm
On WEEKENDS from May 29 to October 17, a staff peson will be at Fossil Park. They will be there to answer your questions and help you find fossils.
Staffed Hours:
Saturdays & Sundays: 11 am to 5 pm
Memorial Day, May 31: 11 am to 5 pm
TOPS offers Spring & Fall Educational Field Trips at Fossil Park.
A park system Naturalist leads the one-hour program with a brief introduction, followed by roughly 45 minutes for digging and identification. Field trips are Free to Sylvania School District classes; all others are $1 per child with parents, bus drivers, and chaperones free.
For field trip information contact Lyndsey Jordan at 419.882.8313, extension #31.
For Teachers Bringing Their Students To Fossil Park:
Use these links to print out Fossil Park related lesson plans and handouts for your students.
