Hi everyone!

Just little about my new digging adventures. The company I work for just acquired some acreage so off I went exploring. I am a complete novice but must be lucky. The new property has several old dig sites on it, but we are in an area of Woodland Park not known for geological finds. So, last week I went poking around and found a smoky quartz on the ground. Man, did that get my addiction started! So today I went back out to the old digs with my little pick and started pulling loose rocks away from the huge boulder wall in the old dig and a chunk of rock broke away and on the inside if the rock I noticed the fossilized shell! See pic for my fun finds.

Hi Mel. Nice find. Looks like a shell to me. You are in a area that produces fossils and crystals. To the north of Woodland Park you have the Rampart range and Devil's Head area well known for crystals and minerals. To the west you have the Floissant Fossil Beds. To the south you have Pikes Peak well known for crystals. Further west you have Lake George area with world class specimens. To the north of Lake George is the Tarryall Mountains where I am finding Smokey Quartz, Amazonite, Topaz, Goethite and some large Fluorite specimens. If you are finding smokey quartz then there is a chance for these other minerals also. And if you can find them in combo's that can up the value because they are more rare. Here is a shell fossil I found in south park near the South Platte River.

Very nice! The property where I work and live is south of Manitou Lake and from what I have discovered so far is that our property/area has not been known to produce much as far as gems and minerals go, but it makes me curious as to what those guys were digging for many years ago. I am not experienced enough to recognize the dig through the tailings, but having found the smoky quartz makes me want to keep exploring; even in the snow!

Welcome to the forum!