The Ernst Quarries — Attraction in California

My husband has been into gems and paleontology in general for the past several months since our children are up and grown. He got so excited when he found out there was a shark tooth hill where he could dig for shark teeth. He learned all about the Ernst quarry and even read and watched videos about Bob Ernst and his family FOR WEEKS. He was thrilled when he found their website where you can call and pay to dig. He called over and over again, no one ever called him back. Finally he got a return call and was told there's an open spot and to sign up on the website. He did and called back and no one reached back out to him. This went on for a while. My husband asked around town how to get there. Someone told him that it's hard to get a hold of the place and you have to drive up there and someone will come out to you. So he did, it was hard to find and he wasn't sure if he was in the right place. There was a lady digging with her kids, she confirmed to my husband that she tried for 3 months before getting through and the "guy was hard to deal with". She told him to try calling and letting him know he was there. So he did, the man picked up and my husband said, "hello I've been trying to find your place a while, I'm up here and want to pay to dig" And the guy went OFF! He was so rude and threatening and condescending, shouting "you better get off my property, I'm gonna have you arrested, you are illegally trespassing!!!!", anything you can think of this guy was shouting at my husband, it was unbelievable! All my husband wanted to do was find a dang shark tooth! And this guy literally crushed him. By the way, there were ZERO signs saying private property....ZERO. My husband ended up hanging up on him in mid-scream and said he will NEVER step foot at that place again and will make sure no one in our family does, and will definitely let everyone know about this place. What a SHAME and...

I was excited about my trip to Ernst Quarries, with the idea of digging for shark's teeth, bone, and other fossils. Were were given direction and orientation on the do's and dont's. Only cash was accepted with NO receipt, and we all signed a full page liability waver, with no copies provided. I shared a cavelike ledge with a man, Scott, and his 10-12 year old son. Without warning the ledge collapsed pinning me in from above the knee down. Scott and another man came to dig me out, as I couldn't move a muscle. There was hundreds of pounds of weight on me, and I was completely pinned in. I worked hard not to panic, and eventually I was freed. I was glad that the boy was not nearby at the time. Its been a week since this happened. I cancelled the rest of my 3 week RV road trip, and went home, as I couldn't do much other than ice, heat and elevation. I was traveling alone. I sought medical attention, have massive bruising on my lower legs, and still in a lot of pain, though fortunately nothing is broken. After we were allowed freedom to dig, we were told that we could leave anytime, but had the day to stay.

As an amateur layperson I have no real experience to know when a ledge was becoming unsafe or unstable. I wanted the owner or employee to either monitor, or supervise the site, and if need be, close off areas that were questionable. No one came around to our area to observe our spot, or asked us to move. I just dont feel that signing a waiver, taking money, and providing an experience, should negate all and any responsibility to assure that conditions are as safe as they could be. There were several children on this tour, and if it were me, I would think twice about exposing them, in particular, to these cavelike ledges. I felt the need to share my story so others can...

Baby teeth were all we found. We were under the impression it was super easy to find the large ones. They even tempted my son, out in the staging area, showing him a giant meg tooth. My son was disappointed when he asked where the most recent meg tooth was found, the guy just said "everywhere". The only ones that are everywhere are the tiny teeth and "embrionic" teeth. Make sure you're kids understand that finding a big one is super rare! Be careful when you go, and be prepared for rattlesnake encounters, tons of scary giant spiders (we found one in ever spot we dug in) and scorpions (one fell out of the dirt from my shovel while standing in a hole digging) in the dirt you're digging in. Also lots of giant black ants, grasshoppers galore and bees (even though we didn't encounter the bees). You'll definitely find lots of broken bone fossils. Also, bring exact change. I only brought 20s and was owed 10 but never got repaid. For the price we paid, 80 bucks, I could have taken him to a shop and got him a big tooth. But, at least we tried, got to spend time together excavating, and found teeth even though they were tiny. If your kids want to find LOTS of fossils easily, Udig trilobites quarry in Delta UT is the...