About this place
People come here for the fossils. The rock of Fossil Mountain was laid down under the sea in the Ordovician period, roughly 485 to 470 million years ago. Few places in the world matter more for fossils of that age.
Trilobites and brachiopods are common finds. Trilobites were sea creatures a little like woodlice. Brachiopods had two shells and look a lot like clams.
You can take home a reasonable amount of common fossils like these, for yourself, without a permit. You cannot sell them or trade them. If you find bone, leave it where it lies and report it.
Bald eagles, peregrine falcons and golden eagles all hunt here.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
From Delta, drive southwest on US Highway 6/50 for about 51 miles, to the road heading south through Blind Valley. Follow that road southwest and then south for 12.5 miles, to a spur running southwest to the north side of Fossil Mountain. You can see the mountain clearly from the turnoff. The spur leads into a wash that marks the northern edge of it. Drive to the end of the spur, then look for fossils in the wash and on the mountainside.
Coordinates 38.876058, -113.469248
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What is near here
This is a good base for somewhere people travel a long way to see.
- Sevier Lake Directions
- Notch Peak Directions
- Great Basin National Park Directions
- Wheeler Peak Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Baker, NV Directions
- Milford, UT Directions
Milford is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why “at least”: this route is hard to measure. We worked the drive out twice, with two separate mapping tools, and they gave different answers. That usually means there is no road close to the campsite, so the drive doubles back a long way. The figure above is the longer of the two. The real drive could be further still, so check the route before you set off.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
Four in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Hermit's Cabin, Utah — 26 miles in a straight line, but at least a 38 mile drive.
Why “at least”: there is no road right at this campsite, so the drive is hard to measure and the real one could be further. Check the route before you set off.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.