Indian Springs Trace Fossil Natural Area is a 40-acre privately owned site in Fremont County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. It was designated a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

in 1980.

Overview

There are 25 types of

trace fossil A trace fossil, also known as an ichnofossil (; from el, ἴχνος ''ikhnos'' "trace, track"), is a fossil record of biological activity but not the preserved remains of the plant or animal itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, ...

s of

horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, whi ...

trilobites Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

and pawless armor-plated fish that lived 450 million years ago in a lagoon. The fossils are set in rock of Harding Formation. It is considered North America's best site of trace fossils because its shows the movement of the ancient animals. Tracks left by the animals walking, swimming and burrowing in what had been a tidal lagoon's mudflat. The site is located along the

Gold Belt Byway The Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway is a National Scenic Byway, a Bureau of Land Management Back Country Byways, Back Country Byway, and a Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont and Teller County, ...

on the grounds of the Indians Springs Campground. Owners conduct tours of the fossil site.

Fossil sites

The National Park Service has several sites across the country that protects fossils, which includes trace, plant, vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. The sites are protected for their educational and scientific value. Other sites in Colorado include the

Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is in ...

and

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument The Florissant Formation is a sedimentary geologic formation outcropping around Florissant, Teller County, Colorado. The formation is noted for the abundant and exceptionally preserved insect and plant fossils that are found in the mudstones and ...

Colorado Natural Area

It is a designated area under the

Colorado Natural Areas Program The U.S. State of Colorado has designated 95 natural areas of the state for special protection. The Colorado Natural Areas Program was established in 1977 to preserve and protect special areas of the state with distinctive flora, fauna, ecologica ...

because there are 25 different types of trace fossils from crabs to fish and trilobites from the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...

Period. There are 93 designated sites that in total protect more than 250 endangered, rare, or threatened species.

Notes

References

{{authority control Landmarks in Colorado National Natural Landmarks in Colorado Paleontology in Colorado Protected areas of Fremont County, Colorado Paleozoic paleontological sites of North America Fossil parks in the United States Ordovician paleontological sites