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Each participant under the age of 18 requires an adult to sign a Release Form to obtain admission into the site. A printable Release form is available on this website and mailed in well in advance along with your tour fees to insure your spaces in the tour. Adults attending are required to sign a Release form as well. No one will be allowed into the site without this Release Form.
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Tour fees include: Fossil handouts in addition to what is collected by your party on the scheduled tour date, literature identifing your fossils collected, and prizes for participating and attentative individuals.
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Refunds will not be given to participants for No shows and cancellations by your organization. In the event the tour is cancelled due to increment weather, your rain date will fall on the following Sunday, seven days later. Since I cannot predict the weather and spaces are limited , I cannot offer refunds for no shows on rain dates. In order to receive a refund from a cancelled tour, the entire party must not be available for the rain date. So please make sure your party is aware of this regulation.
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A separate Fossil Collecting Permit may be required by the DNR upon entry. Guide will have copies if this form is required for your outing.
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Organizations are required to submit a copy of their Liability Insurance Certificate prior to the outing. This certificate is required in order to book your reservation. Individuals are not required to submit proof of insurance.
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Groups under 25 will be assigned to a similar audience not to exceed 100 participants in one outing unless otherwise agree upon.
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Groups are responsible for issuing chaperones for particpants under the age of 18 at a ratio of one to every five students. Children must be supervised by an adult at all times. The Guide is not a Chapperone.
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Transportation to and from the lecture and site are the sole responsibiltiy of the group, organization, or individual.
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The time you devote to this experience is priceless to our young children and young adults. Time spent with your child, family member, or friends is the greatest gift you can give them. It is an experience that they will remember for years to come. Therefor, please make sure your entire party arrives on time so we can experience the discovery of Illinois' fossil treasures together. We have limited access to the facility for the lecture. The tour begins at precisely 9:00 A.M. regardless of tardiness.
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Some areas are off limits due to hazards or weather conditions. Guide will notify participants of off limit areas at the site, if any, upon entry.
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Shovels, gardening tools are off limits to this experience. To avoid misconception of concretion removal, I am personally not allowing any tools onto the site. We will surface collect only. See DNR Laws on website/link. Hammers are allowed.
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Participants will be instructed to use the Freeze Thaw Technique for opening their concretions for safety measures.
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All garbage will be carried with you until a refuse can is located. They are located in numerous locations throughout the park.
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Wear comfortable clothing fit for the season. Boots, long sleeve shirts, jeans, and a hat are advisable despite hot temperatures during the summer.
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NO ROCK THROWING!
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To help keep this experience alive, I may ask that you limit your group to a certain amount of concretions, or fossil bearing rocks collected.
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Failure to obey these rules will get you, your organization, or group removed from the site and may jeopardize the future of this hands on opportunity.
