​What an incredible experience! There's nothing like getting down in the dirt and digging up your own fossils. Our guide, JJ, was amazing and made the trip unforgettable. I managed to walk away with a fantastic main specimen and several smaller ones as souvenirs. Fair warning: if you aren't willing to work hard and get dirty, you're better off just buying a pre-prepped fossil. But if you want a real hands-on adventure, these guys are the absolute best way to go. read more

Ulrich's Fossil Gallery - Unearthed small fish - Art Galleries Near Me - Kemmerer, Wyoming

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Wow, what a fun and unique experience! I didn't have a lot of expectations, but was really excited when I learned you could dig for your own fossils and keep anything you find! Ullrich is a family-run business and they truly want you to bring home a great fish and have a great time. They're off the same exit as fossil butte national monument. You'll need to make reservations for the dig (small groups of 10 max and up to 4-hr dig) and they'll drive you up to the site with supplies (eg mallet, wedge tools) so you can chip off layers of 50million yr old rock to see what's underneath. We found a lot of small fish and fish poop. Unfortunately, we didn't get any large fish and were exhausted after 2-hrs, but still ended up with a nice haul! Also uncovered a paddlefish, which the professionals will come back and unearth! read more

Ulrich's Fossil Gallery - Couple of our specimens, with a quarter to show size. Unfortunately, we accidentally split one in half :( - Art Galleries Near Me - Kemmerer, Wyoming

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Fun day digging in an ancient lake that now has abundant fish fossils! It was a lot harder than I thought, but we came home with some awesome souvenirs and a really unique experience. Our guide Jake was with us the whole time, helping us identify fish and answering our questions. Mike, the owner, is really nice and helpful too! Highly recommend read more

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Worth a walk through after a tour of Fossil Butte. Had some great looking fossils and furniture.

Mainly a shop from which to buy nice fossils. Has some really good stuff is high quality. Has small area for kids to dig. Merchandise is all top notch. People talk about a tour from here... we didn't know there was such a thing - didn't see anything about it. read more

Fossil digging was on my Hubby's bucket list. We did not want a tourist trap experience, so we chose Ulrich's fossil digs. It was everything we hoped for. Not commercial at all. Real people teaching you how to really dig for fossils. We went to the quarry and dug. Our guide, Jonathan, did a great job identifying the fish for us and gave us many tips and tricks. Mike (owner) is just a down-to-earth guy doing his thing. I like supporting his kind of business. They do offer to drive you to the quarry. I highly recommend you let them drive you there and back. The road into the quarry is STEEP. They took extra care with us when we got back to the shop too. They cut down our finds and helped us wrap and box our fossils for safe travels home. The price was fair, more than the commercial outfits, but a lot more authentic, with amazing service. We were happy with the quality and quantity of fossils we found. It was a great bucket list check mark for us! read more

Must see attraction! It's a great place to spend 2-3 hours. The staff is friendly, helpful and educate you on the fossils. The gallery is quaint, and has some nice specimens to sell. We took the tour in which you dig for fossils. Michael the owner took us on the tour. He was patient with my 5, and 8 year old sons. He taught them how to excavate the specimens, the ages, the period they came from. I highly recommend this as a stop. We were heading to Mt. Rushmore and deviated to do this. The owners mother was working the store and was so sweet and patient with my kids. When we left, felt as we left grandmas house:) read more

Ulrich's Fossil Gallery - Art Galleries Near Me - Kemmerer, Wyoming

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Very informative and friendly!!! They offer Professionally Guided Tours. They provide shuttle service as well. Inside is an amazing gallery with fossils ranging from $3-6 figures. Great staff and amazing experience!! Tons of cool fish and kids get to dig for free!! read more

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We had a great fossil digging tour provided by Ulrich Fossil Gallery. We had done a similar activity through another group the previous day, and the Ulrich experience was far better and felt more authentic. Instead of digging for fossils on our own, by splitting small rocks that had been removed from the quarry by heavy equipment and had been placed into piles in a designated area, the Ulrich tour involved being taken to the actual rock quarry by our own personal guide (Chase), who was knowledgeable and very helpful with showing us how to split the rocks in the quarry effectively, and identifying the various fish, plants and coprolites we uncovered. The four of us got to work together on large sheets of rocks, and got to take home several large slabs of rock with multiple fossils in each. Chase was very helpful with cutting the rocks to our specifications and helping us pack them as well. The owner of the Ulrich Fossil Gallery, Michael, was a wealth of information and has a beautiful gallery of fossil wall art in all sizes and price ranges. We also picked up some inexpensive tools to help us clean up our fossils and make them even more beautiful. All in all, Ulrich Fossil Gallery gave us a far superior and more authentic fossil hunting experience than we could get elsewhere (at about the same price), and sent us home with a large number of beautiful fossil rocks as well. Great experience! read more

Ulrich's is a great company to dig with! I originally went with another more "well known and highly recommended" dig site and was not satisfied with my finds. I stopped by Ulrich's Fossil Gallery and saw the incredible finds that they have and purchased a few pieces to take home. Michael brought me down to the basement where he wrapped up my purchases and I was able to see the things they were working on. It is very awe inspiring and he said they were all found in their quarry. Back at my hotel I hemmed and hawed about where to go digging the next day but ultimately settled with Ulrich's. The next day, I arrived a little before 9 to find out it will be a 1:1 tour. I was told they would typically have 1 guide per 5-6 people. :) Tyler and his faithful dog Lucas brought me up to their quarry in their jacked up van. Along the way, Tyler pointed out the wildlife in the area. I was glad I wasn't the one driving that steep dirt road and was thankful for the working brakes on the van. At the quarry, Tyler pointed out the different areas that yielded great finds the day before and I started peeling at the layers. There are a lot of fossils above and below the ash layers and also unfortunately to no one's fault, some of those layers are also very fragile and can shatter just by touching it. This tour was more personal than the other dig site. Tyler worked alongside me and helped me pull slabs out of the earth instead of having predetermined piles to work on. (He did the grunt work, clearing out spots and pulling out slabs for me to whack at.) The fossils here were in much better quality than from the other site. You can see so many of the details in the fishes. I found so many pieces but sadly couldn't take them all. This quarry use to be the bottom of the river while the other site was more shoreline which contributes to the difference in quality. I also got a peek at the famous 18 inch layer where special equipment is needed to dig. That's an adventure for another day. There was no shortage of fish and others' poop. The quality of the fossils and the actual dig was so incredible, it blew the other dig site out of this world. Do bring water and sunscreen! Don't mind whatever Luke is hunting or playing with. He's an awesome companion that is enjoying his best life. You can stay as long or as short as you want at the quarry. 2-3 hours is more than enough since there are fossils almost everywhere you look compared to the other site. Tyler helped me cut up the fossils to a smaller size. Michael gave me newspaper to wrap them all up and suggested a sealant for the fossils. I had to go to ACE hardware to get more bubble wrap for the flight home. From what I can tell going to 2 different quarries, the other quarries you can go at any time and pay by the hour while with Ulrich, you start out early. It is best to go early so that the sun is not too strong and the wind won't blow you away. Digging in Wyoming, I was both hot and cold at the same time and surprisingly sunburnt without realizing it. All in all, Ulrich's Fossil Gallery is highly recommended. I am absolutely kicking myself for going to the other site and wish I spent 2 days here instead. The quality of the fossils as well as the individualized attention was outstanding. You do need to call it in if you want to go dig with them since they have small groups. Spread the word on this great place! Don't just focus on price, focus on what you are getting. ** Side tip, don't forget to check what your luggage weight limit is for your flight home. You can also ship your finds home at the local post office. ** Lots of thanks to Michael, Tyler, and Lucas for a great day! read more

After visiting one of the other fossil quarries nearby, I am so happy we did Ulrich's second. It was a by far a way better experience than the other quarry. The other one seemed more touristy and had us going through what seemed to be their leftovers. At Ulrich's it was quite the opposite. Our guide Tyler had us pulling great fossils straight out of the rock wall. We found many large, whole fish on large slabs including some with numerous fish on them. You couldn't ask for a better guide, Tyler was absolutely awesome! He got right to work pulling up huge slabs for us to search through and did all the heavy lifting, all the while giving us some really insightful information about the area, the fossils, the history, etc. Mike was manning the shop and working on some fossils when we arrived and when we left, and he was very personable and made sure we were happy with our day...and we sure were. If you can only do one quarry, visit Ulrich's. They'll get you the good stuff. read more

Super nice younger guy working the store. He told us all about the tour that they did to the private quarry they own. Turns out it was cheaper then the one we were previously on. We paid by the person per hour and they charged by the "pallet" of rock. They have some very nice finished fossils if you want to buy one. For the same price pay to go to the quarry and come home with a stack of fossils ( they even have a saw to cut them to a nice finished shape ) they also guide you as you open the shale to expose the fossils ( the other place you were kind of on your own but could call for help if you needed ) wish I had known about this place. The hidden gem is a fish fossil you finish on your own with a little pencil scraping away the rock matrix. A great gift I only bought one I should have bought more.... read more