The red backpack at lower center marks a fine fossil plant locality in the Middle Eocene Ione Formation of the Ione Basin, California. I discovered the site while hiking the Ione Basin during the mid 1990s. Well-exposed thin-bedded whitish shales and brownish sandstones bear common fossil leaves here, although it is unlikely that the site will ever be thoroughly excavated due to its occurrence on environmentally sensitive property. I was able to collect many fossil plants from this site during my visits to it in the mid to late 1990s.

Please note: All fossil localities in the Ione Formation of Amador County, California, presently occur on private property; explicit permission from the land owners must be secured before collecting fossils there.