Devonian Fossil Gorge — Attraction in Penn Township

This is an excellent place to stop for an hour and a half or so.... It is free! Run by the Army Corps of Engineers - so very well maintained.

Here's how to do it...

Drive to the Coralville Visitors Center. When you get in, as soon as you can see the movie - see it! It takes about 15 minutes; just enough to get the history of the area, a sense for what's there and why - but not long enough to make you antsy. Then pop back out and talk to the volunteer on-site; the one we had was very friendly and helpful. Then look at the fossils in the visitor center.

Next... drive (or walk) down the road to the actual sign that says "Devonian Fossil Gorge". Take the brochure with the 20 numbers on it. You'll have an easy wandering around to find all 20 fossil or geologic sites - they're in a relatively tight area - yet not always easy to find. We actually only found 19 of the 20 - if someone finds #17 - let me know!

You can stop for lunch; or just enjoy....

Bathrooms are clean...

Took us 90 minutes to do it all - great...

What a great experience! We were camped across the dam at West Overlook and decided to go fossil hunting. The entry plaza informs you of what to look for and provides a history of the gorge and the floods that uncovered this treasure. There were many families out on a sunny day looking for fossils and each happily successful. An accessible walkway allows even people with mobility issues the chance to see the small sea creature fossils up close. We enjoyed scrambling over the linestone ledges and searching the entire length of the gorge. There is a brochure at the entrance and numbered sites to aid your search. I would highly recommend this adventure. The visitor center at the top of the hill past the site was closed for repairs but would add to your education...

Cool fossils including a paper map and numbered in spots for you to find them. The visitors center for the dam and lake has a nice ten minute video for the kids who really interested in the dam and how it works along with the flood overflow waters that caused the gorge and fossil find. The kids get a nice visitor pack with a bunch of paper book activities, water safety, birdwatching guide, freebie, etc Note: As a wildlife bonus we saw a beaver, toads, and tadpoles along with a deer standing in the road so be careful driving. There are tons of harmless red spider mites all over the rocky areas when we went to use DEET if that bothers you or check your shoes etc before you get in the car. I didn't see any ticks...