Flat Tops

The destination for this trip is the fossiliferous Dyer Formation on the White River Plateau of Colorado, located in the White River National Forrest north of Glenwood Springs and south of the Flattops Wilderness Area. The Dyer formation is upper Devonian, approximately 370 M.A. deposited when western Colorado was a shallow, near shore ocean environment. Colorado at that time was positioned approximately 20 degrees south of the Equator.  The Plateau was uplifted during the Laramide Orogeny in the Cenozoic.

Marine invertebrate fossils to be collected include brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, sea stars, gastropods, cephalopods and rugose and tabulate corals.  All specimens can be accessed on the surface or with small hand tools.  No power tools or mechanical excavation is allowed.

Trip Logistics:

We will meet on Monday, September 15 at 12:00 pm in a parking lot at the base of Coffee Pot Road.  Special Note: Coffee Pot Road is impassable when wet. If we encounter rain we cannot continue, and alternate plans will be communicated. Elevation: 6,168–10,644ft