# Montour Preserve Fossil Pit: legal collecting field guide

Canonical page: https://lithomap.app/resources/field-trips/montour-preserve-fossil-pit-pennsylvania
Last access and rule review: September 18, 2026
Page purpose: Original LithoMap trip-planning reference for an explicitly authorized rock, mineral, or non-dinosaur fossil collecting destination.

## Direct answer

A free, year-round public fossil pit in Devonian shale where the preserve expressly allows visitors to keep finds.

## Location and material

- State: Pennsylvania
- Area: Danville, Pennsylvania
- Category: Fossil collecting
- Collection status: Collecting allowed
- Expected material: Brachiopods, Mollusks, Corals, Trilobite fragments

## Authorization

Montour Preserve states that the fossil pit is open dawn to dark, admission is free, and visitors may keep fossils they find under the posted site rules.

## Access

Use the preserve’s fossil-pit address and current notices. Pets are not allowed at the preserve.

## Tools, limits, and season

- Tools: A small geologist’s hammer, brush, goggles, wrapping material, and container are suggested. Work loose shale without undercutting the face.
- Limits: Keep ordinary fossils from the designated pit only. Show unusual or scientifically important material to preserve staff.
- Season and current status: Open year-round dawn to dark, subject to weather, maintenance, and current notices.

## Conditions

- Remain inside the designated pit.
- Wear eye protection.
- Bring no pets.
- Leave the face stable and clean.

## Geology

The pit exposes roughly 390-million-year-old Mahantango Formation shale deposited in a Devonian sea.

Common fossils include brachiopods, mollusks, bryozoans, crinoids, corals, and occasional trilobites.

## Field plan

1. Open the current official source and check alerts before leaving home.
2. Confirm the property boundary, parking location, and activity rules on arrival.
3. Begin with observation or surface searching and make the smallest possible disturbance.
4. Photograph context before handling any material that the current rules allow you to keep.
5. Pack out every item you brought and leave protected or uncertain material in place.

## Safety

- Broken shale is sharp and becomes hot in direct sun.
- Supervise children closely around tools and the face.
- Wear long pants, sturdy shoes, and eye protection.

## Official sources

- Fossil pit geology, hours, rules, and keep policy — Montour Preserve: https://montourpreserve.org/fossil-pit/

This guide is not a permit, reservation, boundary survey, legal opinion, guarantee of access, or promise of a find. Open every official source again before travel. Current signs, closures, permits, claim boundaries, and staff instructions control.