Substation Quarry Excavation
Help Us Dig For Fossils
Help Us Dig
Dinosaur Discovery Site paleontologists and volunteers began excavating bone beds across the street from the existing museum in March 2025. And in just two months, we were able to salvage over a thousand fossils! Because of your support and enthusiasm, the City of St. George decided to find a new location for the electrical substation. We are thrilled and grateful the City of St. George wants to preserve this incredible fossil site for years to come!
As of April 30, we have closed the site to excavations and will be concentrating on cataloging, preparing, and researching the fossils we found. But, there are still chances to come dig with our paleontologists! Stay tuned for more information on our dig for a day program coming this fall.
There are still three ways you can help us.
Volunteer
We can still use volunteers for cataloging and preparing the fossils we found. However, learning how to prepare fossils and remove the surrounding rock is an intensive process that requires several days of training. Please only sign up if you are able to dedicate both training time and consistent hours after training.
Donate
We could still use donations for the fun part of researching what was found! Please support our efforts to protect and interpret fossils.
Fossil Discoveries Program
Fossil Discoveries is a new field-tour and fossil-finding experience at the Substation Quarry. This paid tour is a 3 hour adventure unearthing fossils. Start at the museum to get a behind-the-scenes tour of our fossil prep lab where you’ll learn about the fossils you could find. Then head over to the quarry site and learn about its significance to Utah paleontology. After a safety and tool-use brief, spend 2 hours digging and discovering fossils.
Why Is This Dig Important?
RARE AND EXCITING FINDS
Paleontologists from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site (SGDS) and various states, including Utah, Idaho, California, Michigan, New York, Montana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas, began a new excavation into the long-buried rock layers that yielded the bones initially discovered at the site. SGDS and nearby fossil sites contain important fossils in great richness and diversity in an otherwise under studied time in Earth’s history.
These productive rock layers are part of what geologists refer to as the Moenave Formation, which formed when dinosaurs first rose to dominance in North America. These layers consist of sediment that settled at the bottom of Lake Whitmore around 200 million years ago, and contain fossils of different types of fishes, sharks, dinosaur teeth, and intriguing bones that will need further research. These dinosaur teeth and bones are among the oldest known in Utah and are a rare look into a poorly understood time in the history of dinosaurs.
As of April 30, our initial finds include the potential for several new species of fishes, plants, sharks, and possibly multiple new dinosaur species! Shark and dinosaur teeth, full fish skeletons, many scales, and several limb-bones of either a crocodile like animal or a dinosaur are among the 1000+ fossils found during initial excavations. Research and excavations will be ongoing and could take many years to fully understand the plants and animals in the prehistoric environment of Lake Whitmore.
Making New Discoveries
“The potential for making new discoveries in these layers is very high. Finding remains of a new kind of dinosaur in these rocks would be a dream come true and really flesh out what we know about the early stages of dinosaur evolution.”
~ Andrew R.C. Milner, SGDS Curator and chief Paleontologist
Telling A Story of the American Southwest
““The importance of the SGDS cannot be understated. Its fossils tell a story unique in the prehistory of the American Southwest, and they are pivotal in understanding the beginning of the ‘Age of Dinosaurs’.”
~ Dr. Jim Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey
Thank You for Your Help!
Without the response of hundreds of volunteers, both local and far flung, we would not have been able to find as many fossils as we did. We now have thousands of fossils to catalog, prepare, and research, thanks to you!
We’re so grateful for the response we’ve gotten from the community – you’ve shown up in a real way with donated time, money, and equipment. You’ve helped us raise over $15,000; these funds help pay for equipment and supplies such as rock hammers, chisels, knee pads, buckets, canopies for shade as well as archival boxes, burlap, and plaster to protect the fossils. We are currently using donations to put up a fence around the site to protect the fossils still to be unearthed.
Thanks to Tagg-no-Go as our first corporate sponsor. Many thanks to Canyon Crest Contractors and Randy Jones for donating their time and heavy equipment to move lots of dirt, and Handy Excavations for removing the debris pile. Special thanks to Zain with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles for $1,000 worth of supplies and the private individuals who donated both large and small amounts, you know who you are!
Thanks also to the paleontologists and students who volunteered from Utah State University Eastern, University of Texas at Austin, Arkansas University, Utah Geological Survey, and more.
And lastly, thanks to all the dinosaur and fossil enthusiasts who have cheered us on and made this possible!
Volunteer
Now that we’re no longer digging on site, we need help in the lab!
Preparing fossils takes a few days to learn and is dependent on the kinds of fossils you’re preparing. They use small tools similar to what a dentist uses, and micojacks to remove rock from embedded fossils. Our team is always learning new techniques to share!
Please sign up only if you are able to commit to consistent hours after training.
Please, be patient with response times (it can take several days), our team is small and doing the best we can!
Help Fund The Dig!
Thank You To Our Sponsors!
Tagg-N-Go
Quinn Allgood & Conner Atkin
We want to express our gratitude to Quinn Allgood, Conner Atkin, and the staff at Tagg-N-Go Car Wash!
Their generous contribution to the museum helps us preserve our region’s prehistoric heritage.
We appreciate your goodwill and being a leader in our community and the state of Utah.