For number, variety, and detail of fossil fish, few places can equal ancient Fossil Lake. Its fossils enable us to take a close look at what life was like at Fossil Lake 50 million years ago. Fish are by far the most common fossils.

Today Fossil Butte National Monument is a semi-arid landscape of flat-topped buttes and ridges dominated by sagebrush, other desert shrubs, and grasses.

Fossils are best seen at the Visitor Center museum. If you see fossils along the park's two trails or elsewhere, leave them undisturbed.

• Get directions from Google Maps.
• Get directions from MapQuest.
• NPS Directions.

• Be prepared in whatever season you visit.
• Temperatures range from the low 90s F in summer to subfreezing in winter.
• Precipitation averages nine inches per year, and more than half of that falls as snow.
• Strong winds are common.
• NPS Weather Conditions.
• See area weather chart.
• See Canyon Country Weather for more information.
• Sunrise/Sunset

• See National Park Service Restrictions and Regulations.
• See American Antiquities Act of 1906.
• See Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.
• See Pets in the Parks and Backcountry.
• See Encountering Wild Animals.

• See Backcountry Considerations.
• See Backcountry Emergencies.