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Lylidale Park, St. Paul

So you'd like to collect some fossils. One of the greatest places in Minnesota to collect marine fossils is at the Brickyards of Lylidale Park in St. Paul. As the name implies, the Brickyard is a site where bricks were made from the clay. The bricks are no longer being made here but the bluffs that are exposed as a result make easy to dig for fossils. At the 2002 workshop sponsored by the Minnesota DNR Minerals Division participants had the opportunity to see the geology and collect fossils in the limestone and shale of the Missippi River valley. Permits are required as indicated by the sign below. The Minnesota Geological Survey has a great publication on collecting fossils. It diagrams many fossils and gives directions to places in Minnestoa where people can easily collect them. The diagram on this page comes from this publication and the website contains many other educational materials.


The majority of the fossils are in the Decorah Shale. A pail of water to wash the rocks, a hammer to break them and a bag to carry the samples are tools that a good fossil hunter will need. A good pair of shoes and long pants along with bug spray will make the event more pleasant.

The Missippi river has eroded through the rock layers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area exposing much of the sedimentary layers. The layer near the river level and above is of St. Peter Sandstone. This is the same sandstone mined near Kosata for computer chips. In this area it was mined to use the sand for making glass. This mining operation created caves. The caves were used for storage as the temperature inside remains at an almost constant 47°F. The sandstone is a very soft rock, easy to dig with just a shovel or even hands. There are more than 70 caves just in St. Paul's West Side. These caves while interesting can also be deadly. The information below is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune from Wednesday, April 28 and Thusday, April 29, 2004 editions.

On Tuesday, April 27, 2004 three teenagers died and another was left incritical condition as the result of carbon monoxide poisoning while in one of the caves. Dead are Nick Larson, 17, Natalie VanVorst, 17 and Patrick Dague, 17. Justin Jensen, 17 and Jay Boucher, 17 survived. The five teenagers went into a cave, the same cave where two other teens, Jill Huntington and Annie Fries had died on September 26, 1992. After Jill and Annie died the city tried to block off the cave entrance with rocks and concrete and put up a sign to warn other potential cave explorers. The teanagers were found and Justin Jensen was rescued because Jay Boucher was able to find his way out of the cave and call for help.

St. Paul has more than 11 miles of caves, some up to 600 yards long, 20 feet high and 35 feet wide. The caves are popular with people who like to explore and see their beauty along with others who want a place to party without getting hasseled by police. The caves become very dangerous when fires are started in the cave for heat and light. The fires consume oxygen and produce carbon monoxide that can linger for weeks. Cave entrances that once were plugged by gates or rocks are often enlarged just enough to squeeze through, making it very difficult for resque workers to get inside. The city has tried to close off the caves with concrete, steel reinforcement bars, steel sheets, steel pilings and cyclone fencing but "They can dig new holes with spoons" Frank Villaume III, supervisor of civil litigation for the St. Paul city attorney's office said.

In March and again in May other groups of teenagers discovered over 2,000 pounds of buried gunpowder in each of two different caves. The gunpowder is believed to have been there since the 1950s. Imagine 4000 pounds of gunpowder being left undiscovered for 50 years - how long might the bodies of the 5 teenagers remained undiscovered in the caves?

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