American Fossil Quarry — Attraction in Kemmerer

The workers weren't very good at engaging with kids, or really teaching adults how to get things out without breaking them. We took 3 adults and 3 kids. One of the workers seemed to just watch my youngest (8) and then yell at him whenever he did something incorrectly. I have been to other quarries, and appreciate it when workers teach my kids how to do something, and help them develop a love and an interest for something. Yelling at them for doing something the wrong way, and then going away to watch and wait for them to mess up again is not a very helpful approach and makes for an unpleasant visit. At other quarries, workers have worked along side with my kids to show them and teach them. The one worker was splitting rock on his own after yelling at my son. Why couldn't he have taken a moment to teach him and work with him a bit? We later went to Tynsky's Fossil Shop. The woman there was great at explaining things to us, and said that the trips to the Tynsky Quarry are more personalized instead of a group dig. If I ever go again, I will pay the little bit extra to have a guide just for my group. It wasn't that much more, and I think it would have been worth it- even for adults who are trying to figure out how to get things out without breaking them.

I want to add to my review after reading the owner's response:

My son did hit the rock incorrectly. My mom and I were working to teach him how to do it properly, as we didn't want to see anything unintentionally broken either. Contrary to your reply, Adam NEVER addressed any problems about myself, or my son, with me. He just criticized and threatened my son and walked away. He then came back to yell at him again as he tried to figure out the best method (even when my mom was working with my son and was trying to teach him). I am glad that your workers have spent "hours" working with other children. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. Adam was very indignant and borderline callous. A little bit of helpful guidance and coaching would have gone a long way, and would have warranted a generous tip. I have read your other reviews, and can see that I am not the only one who has had...

Scheduled a 2hr time slot as part of a family trip itinerary. Unfortunately, you can't schedule the weather and it was forecasted to rain all day once we got to SLC. However, I called the Quarry and spoke to Patrick, who gets an A+ for customer service. I asked if we could move our time slot to later in the week when it was forecasted to be better weather and he said it was no problem. He then rescheduled my appointment over the phone and sent me a new booking via text and email, no extra charge and no problems. He was extremely easy to talk to... my only regret is that I couldn't find him to give him a tip when we were on site. On site my family was greeted by Derek and guided by Adam, both were excellent. We couldn't have asked for better customer focus. As for fossils, you're guaranteed to find them... you literally trip over them. However, it can be tricky to find whole fish. It all depends on how the rock splits. We probably would have found more whole fish if it hadn't rained 4 days prior (wet rock doesn't split as well) and if we'd watched videos ahead of time that show you how to gently chisel away rock at home if only part of the fish is showing. In all, we probably left with 4 or 5 whole fish and an entire carry-on of fossils for gifts (TSA found it amusing, but let it through), which I felt was good for 2hrs that included a learning curve. Could you buy a fish fossil for $20 at a local fossil store? Yes. But splitting the rock and being the first person to see that fish in millions of years... that's priceless. The whole family had a great time and we highly recommend the...

Was initially told we could work the 18in layer but upon arrival only allowed to work on the rocks they pulled, Then I found fractured layer 3in thick full of fish. 3x3 the ONLY safe way to seperate it was at the next compleat layer. Because I had no consolidate to bind all the fractureds in the layer. I successfully seperated it revealing another layer of fewer fish.. their policy claims you can keep all the fossils you find. BUT This is not true. They won't allow a block greater than 2 inches thick. I explained the situation and was told that's policy and fossils can get damaged. As a professional Paleontologist Fossil safety comes first!. They refused to use the rock saw to cut through the layers thinning the block inorder to hopefully seperate the block into 2 halves or provide any assistance in how to safely seperate such a layer.. iwas forced to attemp the un think able. Trying to seperate a fractured layer full of fish. As explained the layer crumbled distroying all the fish . If we're supposed to be able to keep every Fossl we find, Then it shouldn't matter thickness of the slab. Safety should come first. Apparently profit comes befor Fossil...