Theodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryPublic Lands Directory

Alerts and conditions

All clear. The managing agency, the National Weather Service and wildfire reporting show no current alerts.

Overview

In the ridges of southwest Wyoming are some of the best-preserved fossils in the world. They tell the story of ancient life in a warm, wet environment in and around a freshwater lake. Stingrays swam in the lake. Turtles basked in the sun. Leaves rustled in the breeze while early horses darted between the trunks. We reveal more of the past with each fossil found.

From the National Park Service

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

What to see and do

Activities

  • Hiking
  • Junior Ranger Program
  • Wildlife Watching
  • Birdwatching
  • Museum Exhibits
  • Shopping
  • Bookstore and Park Store

Browse hiking, biking and paddling routes on AllTrails

Plan your visit

Hours

Fossil Butte National Monument: Visitors may enter the park any day sunrise to sunset, but visitor services and motor vehicle access vary throughout the year. Camping is not available.

Getting there

By car: Travel 9 miles west of Kemmerer, Wyoming on U.S. Highway 30. There is a highway sign near mile post 44; turn right onto Lincoln County Road 300. The Historic Quarry Trail is approximately 1/2 mile on the right. Continue west on County Road 300 for approximately 1.5 miles to Chicken Creek Road which provides access to the visitor center, scenic drive, Nature Trail and picnic area. Closest airports: Rock Springs, Wyoming (130 miles); Salt Lake City, Utah (150 miles).

Visitor centers

Weather

Expect a variety of weather conditions no matter what time of year you visit. Spring, fall and winter can be very cold with snow and icy conditions. In spring, daytime temperatures usually range from 30 F to 65 F. Summer daytime temperatures range from 60 F to 90 F. Fall daytime temperatures range from 45 F to 70 F. Winter daytime temperatures range from -20 F to 30 F.

Phone: 3078774455

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Photos

Hills with tan and red sediments partially covered with green vegetation.
Fossil Butte and the Wasatch Formation · NPS Photo / John Collins
A fossil frog facing left with its back legs splayed out.
Aerugoamnis paulus · NPS Photo / Arvid Aase
The moon over a snow-covered butte
Moon over Fossil Butte · NPS Photo
A dark brown, long, thin fossil fish with a forked tail
Knightia eocaena · NPS Photo / Arvid Aase
A green valley with a ridgeline across the way with a tan top not covered with vegetation.
View of Fossil Butte from Cundick Ridge · NPS Photo
A fossil of a turtle with a short tail about the same length as the legs
Echmatemys wyomingensis · NPS Photo

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