Courtesy Photo
Dig through the layers of time in Kemmerer, Wyoming-The Fossil Fish Capitol of the World.
Kemmerer/Diamondville is world-renowned for attractions like Fossil Butte National Monument, located 15 minutes west of town on U.S. Highway 30. Schedule ahead with one of the local guides, and you can actually “fish the layers of time” for fossils of ancient turtles, plants and fish.
Depending on how much time you have, you can stop in at the visitor’s center or enjoy the landscape on a scenic drive. You can even become a junior or senior ranger and assist paleontologists in unearthing real fossils.
Kemmerer is also home to the Oyster Ridge Music Festival, Wyoming’s largest free music festival, held yearly at the end of July. The festival has received accolades from Rolling Stone magazine, as well as the 2006 Governor’s Arts Award.
The world’s first J.C. Penney store, which is still in operation and located just off the town square, is also in Kemmerer. For more of the rich natural and cultural history of the area, visit the Fossil Country Museum.
The Fossil Basin area is surrounded by thousands of acres of public land made up of high desert and the Rocky Mountains.
The area offers many outdoor activities like hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and mountain biking.
