Sunday, September 29, 2013

Coyote Lake Recreation Area Fossil Hunting







I'm not sure the Coyote Lake Recreation Area near Sutton is even really a "thing" anymore. Certainly no one maintains the area judging by the shotgun-bullet-riddled signs and building. It's also pretty hard to find and not easy to get to. That said, if you go, you are pretty much guaranteed to find a fossil. Or one hundred. From the (super creepy) parking area walk towards what is generously called a lake. The lake is surrounded by layers of sedimentary rock. We didn't have any tools with us, we just sorted through rocks and the rock is pretty soft if you want to break some pieces off.

So, if you go here's a list:

  • It's at the end of Jonesville Rd.
  • You will need 4-wheel drive if you want to park near the lake. Otherwise it's a long walk.
  • You might cringe at the thought of what's happening to your vehicle's undercarriage should you choose to go beyond the maintained road.
  • Apparently the "lake" is stocked with rainbow trout!?
  • You will be creeped out. The road is creepy. The parking area is creepy. The unusable outhouse is creepy.
  • Your kids will love finding fossils. OK, you will too.
  • The surroundings are absolutely beautiful.
For more information on Coyote Lake click here.
And oh my gosh I just found a hilarious blog entry that describes it waaaay better than I did and we had very similar feelings on the experience, click here.

3 comments:

KAte said...

Thanks so much for writing this. Made my four year olds day today! She's a big fan of the dinosaur train ;)

Unknown said...

Kate, I'm way late responding to this but I'm so glad that you had fun! My kids love dinosaur train too.

Unknown said...

Do you have any old pictures of the lake or structures when you were there? In 2019, it's a rough off-road trail, with no remnant of any structures at all, besides a 4x5ish concrete slab a few feet from the lake, and 2 rusted poles up the steep hill from the lake. I'd love to see them if possible!