Fossil Beach at York River State Park

The trail to Fossil Beach winds through a forest, a marsh, and ends at what appears to be an unassuming stretch of sand along the York River. But look down instead of out. Mixed among shells and pebbles are fragments of a much older world: fossilized teeth, bones, and other remnants of marine life that swam here thousands of years ago.

Fossil Beach offers one of Virginia’s most accessible opportunities for amateur fossil sleuthing because natural erosion continually replenishes the shoreline. As the cliffs wear away, they release fossils that have remained buried for roughly 6,000 years, scattering them across the shoreline for visitors to discover. An ancient sea scallop known as the Chesapecten Middlesex is the most common prize, but patient searchers may also find shark teeth, whale bones, and fossilized coral.

Visitors must hike about a mile through York River State Park to reach the beach, a brief journey that helps keep the shoreline remarkably quiet. But the reward for your effort is well worth the trip: a chance to hold evidence of an ancient ocean in the palm of your hand.