Visitors can search for fossils dating back 390 million to 400 million years at Swatara State Park in Lebanon County. The site features ancient marine fossils.
LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — Today is National Fossil Day, and visitors can celebrate by exploring ancient history at a state park in Lebanon County.
Swatara State Park features an active marine fossil site accessible from the Bear Hole Trail via the Swopes Valley Trailhead.
The fossils date back about 390 million to 400 million years, when the region was covered by a shallow sea during the Devonian Period, long before dinosaurs existed.
Visitors may find brachiopods, trilobites, crinoids, stelleroids and bryozoans.
The fossil pit was created when PennDOT relocated material from an Interstate 81 construction site to the park, allowing visitors to search for fossils in a designated area. Visitors are permitted to keep the fossils they find because they are not native to the park.
The park is open year-round. Visitors can access the site from the Swopes Valley Trailhead parking lot and use small hand tools, gloved hands or park-provided chipping tools to search for fossils.