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Warm, wet and humid: this was Idaho millions
of years ago. Sub-tropical plants like redwood, bald cypress,
avocado and magnolia thrived in the primordial forests.
As plants died and sank into nearby lakes, a heavy layer of sediment
covered the organic material, keeping it from decay. This created
the Oviatt Creek Fossil beds.
Diggers can find 15-million-year-old leaves and plant material
preserved in the rock, which is easy to separate into layers.
Each chunk of material has abundant fossil material.
Located 46 miles east of Moscow off Highway 8, the fossil beds
are easily accessible to any car until the snow falls.
To arrive at the fossil beds, drive east on Highway 8 to Bovill.
Continue on the highway and make a right to Elk River. The turnoff
to the area is Forest Road 1963, 11.5 miles past Bovill. Look
for a sign on the right side of the road.
Once on gravel FR1963, drive about three miles until FR4704 appears
on the right. Look for Oviatt Creek, a year-round stream, and
park off the road. Across from the stream is an old road bed
and hill cut. This cut is the fossil area.
The area to dig for fossils in is the cut, and many fossils can
be found right near the surface without using any tools. A shovel
can be used to dig deeper and find higher concentrations of fossils.
Because the fossils still contain original
organic material, once the fossil is exposed to oxygen, it begins
to deteriorate. Fossils located near the surface of the ground
may have also deteriorated due to exposure to the air.
Most fossils are fairly well preserved. Various types of ancient
plant matter are preserved in the rock, such as hardwood leaves
and stems, seeds, pods, conifer cones, and even insects. Many
of the fossils are actually impression fossils, a brown or tan
imprint of the material, but some fossils still have the original
biological material remaining.
The fossils with organic matter intact are called compression
fossils, and the original cell walls remain and can be seen under
a microscope. These fossils are normally found in the deeper
rock layers, far away from exposure to air.
For more information about the Oviatt Creek Fossil Beds, contact
the Clearwater National Forest Supervisor's Office at 476-4541
or the Palouse Ranger District at 875-1131.
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