Joe D. Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Does anyone know if Clifton Beach, Maryland (Smith Point) is open to fossil collecting? My friend and I are going down to this area early next week and I wondered if this area, just below Purse State Park is open to collectors? It looks like a boat access area on Google Maps that provides quicker access to the beach than Purse, Blue Bay or Douglas Point trails. I'm still recovering from a foot injury and don't look forward to long walks on trails. The walk on the beach and in the water has always been therapeutic for me. Especially while picking up fossils. Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark57 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Yes it is open. You can walk from the parking lot at Purse or get there by boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted September 27, 2013 Author Share Posted September 27, 2013 Shark57, How about access from Smith Point Road? Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevetrpi Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Yes it is open. You can walk from the parking lot at Purse or get there by boat. I've been trying to figure out about this location as well. Is it part of the state property? Do you just have to walk all the way down Smith Point Road from 224? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted September 28, 2013 Author Share Posted September 28, 2013 It's not part of the State land or the plan to incorporate the land from Purse up to up above Blue Bank (Nanjemoy NRMA plan). There is a dirt road that boaters have used for years that comes off Smith and goes to an area that has active boat ramps. I wouldn't like to park there and come back to see my SUV towed away. I hope if it's private property that it is well posted or that someone is around to keep would be trespassers away. Then again it's all private property above the high tide line, someone owns everything. Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevetrpi Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 (edited) Yeah, that was what I was thinking about. I don't like the idea of walking over someone's private property (without permission) to get to the beach. Edited September 28, 2013 by stevetrpi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted September 28, 2013 Author Share Posted September 28, 2013 I will probably take a look at the situation next week and if it is posted or looks like it is not collector friendly I'll go back up to the Purse or Blue Bank. Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevetrpi Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Awesome man. Let us know how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Smith Point Road is not paved on the other side of Riverside Road (224), as shown on Google Earth and is chained access for the dirt road. The Purse beach is pretty picked over now and needs a few storms to replenish it. After walking to the point from the regular Purse paths the steep path up from the beach is a killer for someone with Plantar Facitiis, a replacement knee and very little cartilage in the other one. A few others who were just leaving as we arrived had all filled small bags with mostly small Shark teeth. I found a few small ones, and ear bone and other assorted pieces of from a whale and a few skate pieces. I did meet a local naturalist, who works up at Mallows bay, and we discussed the area at length. After jawing for a while we discovered we were both retirees from the Telephone company who worked in similar jobs there in our youth after serving our country. It was still a nice trip into natures wonders and as with rock collecting, the fun is in the experience - not the finding (but it sure makes the long trip better when you find plenty of goodies. Joe D. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmorefossil Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I'm quite interested in seeing what you found, if you are talking about fossils from purse you probably didn't find an ear bone or anything whale. Turtle and crocodile are what you find bone-wise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Bmorefossil, I lost the bigger piece and a few of the teeth. The one piece I still have is in the attached pictures. After reviewing Crocodile pieces and think the bigger piece was from a croc. Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 100_3814.jpg100_3817.jpg100_3822.jpg100_3823.jpgBmorefossil, I lost the bigger piece and a few of the teeth. The one piece I still have is in the attached pictures. After reviewing Crocodile pieces and think the bigger piece was from a croc. Joe D. This is an iron concretion; they are highly variable, masquerading as various things, and common in those formations. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Yes, it looks like Goethite. There is a lot of this stuff on the beach, along with burned wood that looks like bone until you pick it up. I can't fool you can I? The tiny bubbles at the top of it give it away, along with it's weight. Of course you couldn't weigh it. thank you for the clarification. I did find a nice piece of multi colored Quartz that I will cut and make something of. My Genie usually gives me a hint of what's inside each rock so I don't ruin god's work. If my foot would only heal I would like to explore the northern part of the Purse cove (Wades Bay). The cliffs seam a lot higher there and should hold much more fossils to erode out. I could have used my Florida "snow shovel" (Bug Rake) yesterday. I could have reached to the drop off point of the beach and screened a lot of good material. The tide was coming in though and I had to get past the downed trees before I got marooned south of the path. When my foot heals I can climb over the downed trees again, now I have to wade around them. It was fun getting out and collecting again but the drive was tiring. I usually stay overnight but my wife is not doing well and I won't leave her alone overnight. I had fun making the GPS unit keep recalculating, every time I didn't follow her directions. These tools keep trying to make us use the worst roads and seem to hate 95, 495 and 895, anything with a 95 in it. It's nice that they show the speed limit though, especially in Maryland where the state police seem to be everywhere. Thank you again fro your help. Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmorefossil Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Over my 3-4 months of hunting the river I did have my share of luck. Some of that luck involved finding beautiful quartz arrowheads/points. They are really a beautiful find especially when they're not river worn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 My wife found a nice arrowhead out in Arizona many years ago. We were seeking an old Quartz Amethyst crystal site back in the boonies and I had to drive through a deep water hole to get to it. We were searching under some pine needles and she spotted it, along with lots of Obsidian shavings. Whoever made it there had lost it. I searched a little more and found two spent large caliber rifle bullets, just under where she found the arrow head. I hope these bullets weren't used to cut short the makers work. If we had found them in recent years it would be illegal to disturb them. I never disturb any burial areas and don't condone anyone disturbing any human burial sites no matter where they are. I used to collect in Vera Cruz, Pa. at a farm next to the Federal Jasper Park site. We found lots of arrowheads in the fields also. The farmer died and willed the land to the government and now it is supposed to become part of the federal park system. Sifting in the waterways around old Indian settlements is another spot that gives up arrowheads. I generally will find a watercourse close to where I wish to collect and do some sifting to ascertain what minerals and or fossils might be encountered in the area. Getting permission to explore is always a given for me. A friend of mine gave me a bunch of tiny arrowheads from Japan, that he collected over there. They date back to the Jomon age before the present day Japanese culture. He stocked almost an entire museum with his finds from friendly farmers fields. Joe D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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