Aurora Fossil Museum — Attraction in Aurora

A great fossil museum with a lot of information on eastern North Carolina fossils and geology, and an excellent outdoor fossil hunting area. I drove out here from central North Carolina for a day trip, and I couldn't have been more pleased with what I experienced.

The museum itself is free of charge to enter. The exhibits are well displayed, and they have many different specimens from the local area, namely the phosphate mine. There are modern species on display as well that can be compared to their ancient ancestors. They also have a section on the phosphate mine and on the local geology, which helps explain why there are so many fossils in the area and how they are being discovered.

There is a gift shop in the entrance of the museum that sell a variety of things to help raise funds, from museum merchandise, to toys, and fossils from around the world, including local fossils that were donated by visitors. They also sell little wooden framed sifters at reasonable prices, and even sell little bags of fossil material that you can take home and dig through. There are restrooms located here as well.

The fossil pits are located right across the street next to a park with plenty of shaded seating. It is free of charge to dig; however, they do ask that you follow the rules and also check in at the gift shop before you start digging, as visitor counts are very important to small museums such as this one. The pits are filled with fresh material from the mine at least twice a year. Even after months of guests digging in it you can still find plenty of wonderful fossils, including small shark teeth, coral chunks, and small shells. However, if you are patient and fortunate you can find some fairly great fossils as well, including medium to large teeth, vertebrae and more. I know that they replinish the pits around May, during their annual fossil festival.

There are a few local stores around, but the local restaurants are a few minutes away by car. I do recommend the local restaurants, as they have good food and good service. The park across the street seems to be a good picnic area as well if you prefer to pack a lunch. Most nearby lodging seems to be outside of the town, but the local traffic isn't bad, so it might be a fairly decent drive.

The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, and are happy to answer and questions about local fossils or geology. I myself brought in quite a bit of fossil material from Holden Beach to try and learn more about it. They were not only able to help me identify a few fossils, but ended up teaching me quite a few things about them as well. They were very kind and patient as we went through all the fossils I brought in. They also taught me about some other local and public fossil hunting sites.

All in all, I had a wonderful time, and I definitely feel like this day trip was worth it. I'd definitely recommend this museum to anyone interested in fossil collecting or paleontology. I know I will be coming back myself...

Temp File Fossil Dig Venue in NC

We just sort of happened up on the museum while looking for a place to get a good breakfast biscuit. The kids walked up to the door, but came running back all excited yelling, “Mom, Dad!!! You can look for fossils, shark teeth and other stuff. Let’s get some crackers, forget the biscuits, grab a Coke instead for breakfast, so we can start digging for fossils.” This is why we go on vacation, just to see little Billy and Tommy’s eyes grow wide with anticipation. We wanted a tasty breakfast biscuit, a nice cup of coffee, a chance to relax and wake up, then go in search of some amusement; however, little Billy and Tommy jumped in with both feet to set their own agenda that didn’t include a wholesome and hearty breakfast, time to develop a strategy, or even rank the educational value of their hasty plan vs putt-putt, a petting zoo, shopping for BB guns at Walmart or “….Mom and I found a goat farm to shop for two new kids.” Since Billy and Tommy didn’t know young goats are called “kids,” they were a lot more compliant until Tommy found the “Goats are kids too…” explanation in Wikipedia. Afterward, we had to return to idle threats, exaggerated results of parental violence, and review the NC State Laws regarding abandonment of minor children.

But, back to digging for fossils…. We haven’t wasted your time here since we had the previous discussions while waiting on the “Fossil Digging Venue” to open for the day.

The fossil dig was amazing for the whole family. It was so much fun we just don’t think we can do the experience justice in a single review, so we’ve decided to devote a second review just to digging to shark’s teeth. Plus, as parents who focus on educational value, we incorporated a life lesson into the dig for shark teeth by telling Billy and Tommy that sharks don’t brush their teeth regularly, thus they lost “all these teeth.” Mom explained that if the boys didn’t take care of their teeth, then a thousand years in the future some young sharks — now evolved for a thousand years and much smarter — will be digging for their lost teeth. Tommy expressed his doubts about the veracity of his mom’s story, but dad asked Billy to use his iPhone to find out if the nearest Emergency Room was open on weekends. Tommy began to cry; however, Billy reminded him what the policeman said about calling when mom and dad drink too much.

Stand by while we count our shark teeth and tell y’all about...

This was such an awesome experience! We were visiting from philly and staying in beauford and took the 90ish min drive to the museum. Definitely take the route with the (free) ferry. Why not its free and fun just check out the ferry times if you're pressed for time (I think its like every hour and half hour... Google: ferry schedule cherry branch)

The museum itself isn't large, BUT it is VERY interesting if you are into sharks and marine fossils.... if you're not... oh well, go across the street and dig in the dirt 😅

No litterally .... go across the street to the (free) dirt piles, and you can spend hours there just digging through a million year old rubble that is locally mined and dumped there for everyone to find amazing fossils!

The museum sells digging and sifting gear if you don't bring any... if you want to bring some from home you'd want a small gardening shovel and sifter. Everyone was sitting on the dirt... but it hurts so maybe they have thicker skin than me... I knew I was coming and bought a cheap Walmart Yoda mat so I could sit on it and by the end I was laying flat bc it is soooo much easier to find the shark teeth that way. I wasn't finding any until I laid flat and my face was closer. The teeth are very dirty and just look like ..well.. rocks 😆 bring a little spray bottle with water to tell for sure. You will know immediately if it is a shark tooth or not 🤣. Also a TONNNNNN of coral. Lots of people were discarding it as rocks but I personally love fossilized coral and bleach (deluded) to bring it back to a white color. I

Don't forget the buy stuff at the museum store. It's run by the nicest folks ever!!! It's free but I highly advise to give a donation or buy some of the cool stuff they sell... and for a very fair price! The mugs are pricey but hand made and they sell all sorts of fossils and identify sheets for just a few bucks. Definitely buy the $2 shark teeth ID sheet. It's easier than Google I promise!

Oh.. and if someone leaves their digging area bc they can't find anything... dont waste your time digging in their hole lol I saw so many people doing this- wasted time and energy and get frustrated and leave! Find an undisturbed area and try there... or one of the many piles in the...