This nondescript little hill in the Ione Basin holds one the truly great Eocene fossil plant horizons in all the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The precise locality is marked by the blue backpack at upper mid-left. The horizon cuts across that dirt path. Not seen in the image is a modest quarrying excavation along the manzanita-covered slope at right side of image. Here, numerous quality fossil plants have been collected ever since I discovered the fossil bed during a visit to the Ione Basin in 1992. Unfortunately, for several years, access to this specific site was impossible due to some complications with the former land owners. That problem has now been resolved and the locality awaits a major scientific quarrying operation.

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.