Calvert Cliffs State Park has been named one of the best places in America to hunt for fossils in a new feature from Southern Living, about a 90 minute drive from many parts of Montgomery County.
The publication included the Southern Maryland park among the country’s top fossil-hunting destinations, describing Calvert Cliffs as having some of the best fossil hunting in the United States and noting its reputation as one of the world’s top coastal locations for finding fossils.
More than 600 species of fossils from the Miocene era have been identified along the Calvert Cliffs, including shark teeth, whale remains and fossils from other prehistoric marine life.
Southern Living also highlighted one of the area’s most notable recent finds. In 2022, 9-year-old Molly Sampson discovered a roughly 5-inch megalodon tooth while searching for fossils along the Calvert County shoreline.
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the massive cliffs stretch for roughly 24 miles along the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County. They formed between 10 and 20 million years ago, when Southern Maryland was covered by a warm, shallow sea.
As the sea receded and the cliffs became exposed, erosion began revealing remains of prehistoric animals that once inhabited the area, including sharks, whales, rays and seabirds that DNR says grew as large as small airplanes.
Calvert Cliffs State Park is a day-use park with a quarter-mile sandy beach along the Chesapeake Bay, 13 miles of hiking trails, fishing, freshwater and tidal marshlands, a playground and opportunities for fossil hunting.
The shortest route to the beach is the 1.8-mile Red Trail. Visitors are prohibited from entering areas directly beneath the cliffs because of the risk of landslides and falling material. The park charges $5 per vehicle for Maryland residents, with an additional $2 fee for out-of-state residents. The park currently accepts cash only.
