Fossil Beach at York River State Park in Williamsburg, Virginia

The trail to Fossil Beach winds through a forest, a marsh, and ends at what appears to be an unassuming stretch of sand along the York River. But look down instead of out. Mixed among shells and pebbles are fragments of a much older world: fossilized teeth, bones, and other remnants of marine life that swam here thousands of years ago. Fossil Beach offers one of Virginia’s most accessible opportunities for amateur fossil sleuthing because natural erosion continually replenishes the shoreline. As the cliffs wear away, they release fossils that have remained buried for roughly 6,000 years, sc...