Bach Y Graig is a stream section, rich in trilobites and graptolites. The latter are mostly complete, but are also very fragile and paper thin. Therefore, when splitting, their segments often end up being separated on either side of the split. The site is also dark, being in a thickly wooded area, and is very hard to find without a map or GPS. Ordovician, Stream, Rating: ♦♦♦
The scenery of the coast north of Caim is beautiful. Moreover, excellent fossil corals can be observed in situ and found as wave-rounded pebbles here. Brachiopods are especially abundant. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Llangollen is Carboniferous Limestone scenery heaven. About a kilometre and a half north of the town, the Eglwyseg Escarpment presents some really fantastic views. What’s more, among the huge amount of scree that covers its scarp slope, fossil brachiopods and corals can be found. Carboniferous, Scree Slope, Rating: ♦♦♦
From the part of the Glyndwr’s Way walk that passes through the woods on the hill called Gallt yr Ancr west of Meifod, fossiliferous sandstone blocks can be searched for fossils. When split, these can yield excellent brachiopods. Ordovician, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦
There is an attractive walk above Prestatyn, with the chance of finding a few Carboniferous Limestone fossils. On a sunny day, this location is idyllic, even if the fossils can be few and far between. Carboniferous, Outcrops, Rating: ♦♦
Surrounding the massive working limestone quarry just outside Halkyn are many smaller disused workings and old piles of waste material. In places, good quality brachiopods, corals and crinoidal limestone can be found.Carboniferous, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
There are three sites at Burley Hill, giving the opportunity to collect Carboniferous corals and brachiopods from a small cutting, scree slopes and the hillside. There is plenty to be found here and it makes for a fantastic day out. It is also within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Carboniferous, Cuttings and Scree, Rating: ♦♦♦
Occasional coral fossils can be found at the pretty location of Red Wharf Bay. Brachiopods and crinoid pieces also occur. However, finds are generally infrequent.Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
A massive headland north of Llandudno, Great Ormes Head, is carved out of Carboniferous limestone. Numerous natural exposures can be examined as well as old quarry faces. A whole day can be spent exploring here. Carboniferous, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
The sea regularly erodes a cliff of spoil from the now closed nearby Michael Colliery. This cliff contains many different carboniferous beds, some of which contain highly fossiliferous plant and marine bands, fossils from which can be found scattered along the foreshore. Carboniferous, Spoil, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The volcanic rocks at Kinghorn are sedimentary from the Carboniferous, with interbedded pyroclastic rocks and basalt flows. Corals and shells can be found within these rocks. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
There are two locations for fossils at Elie. The first is Elie Shore where, during scouring conditions and winter months, brachiopods, bivalves, sponges and trilobite fragments can be found. Nearby, the rocks at Wood Haven also contain fossils Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Giant millipede tracks, tree trunks in life position and many other fossils can be found to the southwest of the pretty fishing village of Crail. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
There is plenty to see at St Monans, including raised beaches, an excellent example of a syncline, bedding planes packed with trace fossils and whole layers of rock full of fossil corals and crinoids. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Some excellent Carboniferous plant fossils can be found at Anstruther. This is the case if you can find the right type of rock, and if you have the strength and determination to break them open and carry them off the beach. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is another location along this stretch of coastline where Carboniferous plant fossils can be found. The site is not as rich as others, but is still worth a visit. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Achanarras Quarry once constantly yielded complete Middle Devonian fish from the Old Red Sandstone. However, it has been disused for many years and is now over-collected, but still very rich in remains. Complete fish can still be found, but are now rare. Devonian, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Helmsdale is the best place to collect Jurassic fossils in Scotland. Geologists have been fascinated by the strange ‘Boulder Beds’ for many years and some questions have remained unanswered as to how the beds were formed. The area is rich in reptile remains, giant corals, fish remains and the occasional ammonite. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Thurso is famous for its rich fish beds, and fish remains (especially scales) can be found everywhere along the foreshore – the rocks are full them. Fish teeth and complete fish have also been found. Devonian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Lothbeg is a tiny Hamlet in northern Scotland. Fossils can be found in the Jurassic rocks on the foreshore. Kimmeridge Clay is often exposed and plants can be found in the soft Lothbeg Beds. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Golspie is famous for the castle of Dunrobin. However, few people know that, just below the castle on the foreshore, fossils can be collected in Jurassic rocks. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Crakaig is a tiny hamlet in northern Scotland, where fossils can be found in the Jurassic rocks on the foreshore. However, some of them – the Kimmeridge Clay – are only exposed during scours. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
At Tarbat Ness, the Devonian rocks can contain small fish remains. Scales can be seen on ledges at the headland within a pebble bed. Larger fish fragments can also be found, but are less common. Devonian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is the official ‘Hugh Miller Trail’. Hugh Miller was one of the most important Scottish geologists of the 19th century. Ammonites and fossil fish can be found here. The footpath down to the shore was created by Hugh Miller himself. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Kintradwell is difficult to access, but if the ‘Boulder Beds’ are exposed, this site can be highly fossiliferous. Kintradwell’s rocky foreshore can also produce some surprises. However, be prepared for a long walk. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
At Brora, Jurassic rocks are carried down and deposited from further upstream. These lie around the mouth of the river (River Brora) and along the beaches at the town. They can contain ammonites and shells. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
What looks like an ordinary rocky beach, covered in seaweed, is actually rich in corals, ammonites and shells, although you need to work hard to find them. At Portgower, the rocks exposed are from the Jurassic and, if you split them, can yield flat ammonites and shells. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This location is most famously known for being the furthest point in the northeast of the UK mainland. This location is actually highly rich in fish remains (especially large fish scales) from Middle Devonian, John O’Groats Sandstone Group. Devonian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
The tall Jurassic cliffs along the River Brora yield ammonites and belemnites. You will need wellington boots as the river runs next to the cliff face. Ammonites can be seen exposed on the ledges and platforms beside the river. Jurassic, River Cliffs, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
A Jurassic fault along the Balintore foreshore is well exposed here. Fossil oysters are quite common, but belemnites can also be found. In addition, during the right conditions, Jurassic ammonites can be found. The cliffs here consist of Devonian strata. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Skye features a complete sequence of 400m of the Jurassic history. The entire coast from Portree to Staffin consists of fossiliferous Jurassic rocks. This guide features Bearreraig Bay fossils and some local information. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Elgol offers beautiful scenery, with a view of the Black Cuillin rising 3,000 feet straight out of the sea, and the guarantee of finding fossils. The sheer number of bivalve fossils crammed into certain layers of rock here is staggering. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is a location that is worth stopping off at for an hour on the way to Elgol. Belemnites can be found here and a few rocks contain bivalves. Some sandstone outcrops also contain fossils. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Flodigarry is a very picturesque beach, with amazing views and Oxfordian sediments, containing good pyrite and calcite fossils. The wild seas can add drama to this location, and the wildlife is second to none. This is a great place to spend a day with a picnic and a look for fossils on the low tide. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Infrequent Cambrian fossils can be observed on the surfaces of dolomitic limestone boulders at the base of Ben Suardal. They are not particularly easy to find and are hard to collect, but their great age should be an incentive to at least try to find them. Cambrian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Camustianavaig is not for the faint-hearted, with a long hard walk and a very rugged terrain. However, for the enthusiastic serious collector, it has a few amazing fossils. And the stunning scenery and absolute solitude in this very remote location makes it a wonderful place to visit. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Famous for its historical past, the shores to the north of Prince Charlie’s Cave (which itself lies to the north of Portree) can provide a variety of common and a few rare collectable fossil specimens, from several recognised zones. Prince Charlie’s Cave is one of the toughest locations Skye has to offer. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
This is a very dramatic location, but Rigg is one of the least visited fossils locations on Skye. The reason is that this is only for the experienced collector. It has a fascinating coastline of Lower and Middle Jurassic sediments. Rich in fossils, archaeology and local wildlife, Rigg is one of these places where safety and common sense must prevail. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Valtos has the dramatic landscape to match its splendid name. This is the place to see some of Skye’s famous dinosaur footprints. As well as these amazing trace fossils, the Bathonian Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks have yielded dinosaur bones in the past, and they are on display in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Dunans has a delightful little secluded beach that has an exposure of soft grey Oxford Clay at the high tide mark. A variety of fossils can be picked from the clay shale lying at the foot of the exposure and patches of fresh clay bedrock are often revealed on the lowest of tides. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
The Ardnish Peninsula is a place of immense beauty and has amazing wildlife. Several narrow little peninsulas stretch out like fingers, dividing the sandy shoreline into little inlets at low-tide. Very richly fossiliferous horizons are separated by relatively baron ones. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Hallaig is at the southern end of the Isle of Raasay. Fossils can be found along the east shore, and in burns and streams at various places on the island. Raasay boasts geology of international importance, and Hallaig is an excellent location to see it. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The tiny sea front village of Waterloo is a good place to start for a short and easy fossil hunting location on Skye. This is a great place for a family fossil hunt and, for the beginner. Lower Jurassic fossils can be found in patches across most of the easily accessible bedrock. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
To visit the entire Glasnakille stretch of coastline and to see its various bays and headlands, it must be accessed at three different places. The sea here reaches the plunging cliffs even at low tide. However, the scenery is worth the effort, even if fossil numbers are on the low side. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Various fossils, such as belemnites and bivalves, can be found along the beautiful and unspoilt coastline to the southeast of Kilmarie. Views from the beach are magnificent. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is a peaceful location where fantastic bryozoans can be seen in Carboniferous rocks. You can also find many slabs of the tracks of trilobites, preserved in the mud over which they crawled. Fish and the trilobites themselves can also be found here. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The River Tyne is a long and beautiful river. Its tributaries wind their way down from the glacially eroded Lammermoor and Pentland Hills. The river gains volume as it crosses the alluvial plain, cutting through the carboniferous country rock, transporting minerals and fossils along the way. Carboniferous, River Section, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is an area extremely rich in Silurian fossils, but which is also a challenging place to collect fossils from. The locations discussed in the guide are suitable for those who are used to exploring and walking. However, it is a beautiful landscape, with many different types of fossils to be collected. In fact, the area is famous for its rich diversity of fossil species, some of which are unique. Silurian, Cuttings, Outcrops, Disused Quarries, Streams, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
When visiting the village of Dalmellington, you cannot help but see the huge spoil heap. This is now disused, but contains plenty of material to search through, including black shale that is rich in fish remains. Plant remains can also be found. Carboniferous, Spoil Heap, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Dob’s Linn is a famous location for graptolites and, indeed, is one of the best, and you can collect many different species form the shale. However, the location can be hard to find, but it is well worth the trip. Be sure you bring paper to wrap up your specimens. Ordovician, Silurian, Cuttings, Outcrops, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
