Aurora Fossil Museum is located in Aurora, NC. The museum is in two buildings and there are three fossil pits (two official and one left over from a festival) that you can dig. Admission is free for all of this. There is even a parking lot. Some of the fossils in the first building are local fossils that came from a nearby phosphate mine. But others are from all over the world. The other building across the street has mostly gems. The museum has a nice gift shop and restrooms if needed. read more

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This is a very remote field trip, so plan accordingly. Bring food, bring water, and bring your enthusiasm....and if your knees are bad, a lawn chair. This place will appeal to the dinosaur enthusiast in all of us. YOU WILL find stuff....teeth, shells, occassional vertebrae. They get dirt drops 2 or 3 times a year from the local phosphorus mine. The mom and pop that set up this venture support their two museums with donations, so buy something at the shop or make a donation because this place needs to continue. Otherwise, the only cost is your time and patience. They are warm, friendly, and very knowledgeable, so bring your finds to them for id. Guaranteed, you will learn something. Parking is abundant and free, and bathrooms are available. You and your kids need to experience this place so come on to one of the neatest experiences in NC. read more

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We enjoyed the museum and fossil digging. We found several shark teeth, lots of corral and welk shells. I would suggest bringing your own shovel for digging. The museum had kid sized shovels. read more

We had a fantastic time at Aurora Fossil Museum. This place is off the beaten path so it wasn't overly crowded. The museum is very interesting and a great opportunity to learn about the fossils of the area. The folks operating the museum are very polite and knowledgeable. It was amazing getting to dig in the pits and find numerous shark teeth. We found some really nice ones as did others. If you go, make sure to check the guidelines and bring a sifter with no larger than 1/4 inch screen and a small shovel less than 36". They do have sifters for sale should you need one but they will run 10 bucks or so. If you do find a nice tooth they are happy to wrap it and make it into a necklace for you! read more

Aurora Fossil Museum - Shark teeth found in the pits at Aurora Fossil Museum. - Museums Near Me - Aurora, North Carolina

We came, we dug around, found some great teeth, and the young lady inside today was super knowledgeable, and quite humble about it when I had a question about what something was! The rocks are tough to hand dig so bring a shovel or wear gloves! read more

This is an out of the way place, but if you love sharks and fossils then it's worth going out of your way. They have two huge fossil digging spots and people are very serious about searching for fossils. They have a nice picnic area, ports johns, and hand washing stations. They also h e a bathroom inside the museum. Their gift shop is full of goodies abs fun things! Their small museum is packed with fossils and cool things to look at. It's worth the trip. read more

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I can't believe this place is free! We are into fossil hunting as a hobby and learned about this place on YouTube. Aurora is truly a teeny tiny town and we had to drive an hour out of way to get there but we are very glad we did. There is one giant fossil pit (3 really) where you can sift for fossils and sharks teeth for free. They pull shark Megs out of here fairly frequently. The museum itself is small but impressive with the amount of things in their collection. It is also free. Be sure to make a donation or purchase in the gift shop. read more

Aurora Fossil Museum - Sifting for fossils in the pit. - Museums Near Me - Aurora, North Carolina

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Looking through the rock piles and finding sharks teeth was free. You can buy supplies from the museum if you did not bring your own. We plan on going back soon. We found hundreds of shark teeth. Most of the small bit one was over an inch long read more

Since we moved to NC in 2015, we quickly became obsessed with fossils and finding shark teeth. We discovered this pace by accident. It's in a very small town, that looks like a ghost town. The museum is free. They only ask that you sign in so they can continue getting funding through grants. A couple times a year the get new dirt for the piles out front. They post this on Facebook. So we've always tracked the deliveries. That's the biggest opportunity to find the bigger teeth. You keep whatever you find. The piles are open 24/7, even when the museum is closed. This is a great activity for adults, kids, families, & anyone really. It's about 35 min from New Bern, so we always stop there for lunch or dinner. read more

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A really cute little pace off beaten path where you can search fossil piles for shark teeth. Did I mention there's no charge.. it's all free. Bring a small shovel and small sifter from home or you can buy or rent sifter from gift shop. There are 2 decent sized dig spots for people of all ages. One is shaded and ones out in sun.. bring sunscreen for sure if you wanna spend time . Your guaranteed to find some if you look closely. I found small ones but kids dug and found some decent sized ones. We also brought a picnic lunch because they have tables in the shade where you can stop grab your water and snack and eat. Gift store has few snacks like chips and drinks for charge but we brought coolers. There's a small museum on site where you go to check in. You can walk through and see all kinds of info on different sharks and different size teeth on display. When you walk in there is display cases of different sharks teeth and a wide variety of things to purchase. We went home with tye dye shirts to commemorate our visit. The shirts were only $16 for adult sizes. You can even buy bag of fossils do you can do your own dig at home! Great place for family to enjoy without having to spend a lot of money. We really enjoyed going and have plan to visit again once weather cools down in the fall. read more

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Sleepy little town but big fun at the fossil museum. Lots of great information and displays about fossils, I loved the informative tape regarding the operation of the phosphate plant that is near by. The big fun was in the digging of shark teeth in the outdoor pit just across the street kids loved it. The fossil gift shop had all kinds of choices and souvenirs for the kids of all ages at reasonable prices. This place is a hidden gem and worth the drive. read more

Love this little gem in the sleepy town of Aurora! You can learn a bit of archaeology in the museum and see a nice collection of sharks teeth among other finds. The best part is finding your own treasures in their fossil dig. You can purchase all the tools you need at a reasonable price in the museum. The fossil dig is open at all hours everyday. We found a ton of shark teeth! Can't wait for new fresh dirt to sift through. It's good, wholesome fun for the whole family. read more

Really cool place!!! The exhibits were great and those that didn't mind getting dirty absolutely loved digging for sharks teeth. They were easy to find... even some larger ones. The staff was super friendly and the shovels and sieves were reasonably priced. read more

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Had a great time at the museum (it's pretty remote, close to the coast of NC) it's a small place but has some cool sharks teeth including a large collection of meglodon teeth as well as other fossils and finds from a local Phosphate Mine. The coolest thing and where I spent most of the day was a dig site across the road from the museum, the local mine brings in truck loads of dirt each year and I mean huge truck loads so those coming to Aurora can sift for shark's teeth and other fossils in the soil from the mine. Take a look at the pics for a little more about what the museum has to offer as well as what I found in about 2 hours digging for teeth and fossils. I can't wait to go back this summer! read more

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This was a fantastic stop for us on our road trip. There were tons of shark teeth and other small fossils that were very easy to find in the pits. We didn't find anything bigger than a half inch. Still worth the trip. The museum was small but still fun for the kids to see a few things. Visitors and staff were without masks so we were in a hurry to get in and out since we had small kids with us. They did have hand sanitizing stations throughout and several air filters. We did not find kids food anywhere close by so pack food and enjoy the benches outside. They aren't open daily so check the hours before you go. read more

This place is worth the drive! There was so much to see at the museum and the staff was friendly and helpful. Did I mention there are TWO locations to sift through for shark teeth and other fossils? Our 4 children spent hours here and were NOT ready to leave when it started raining! read more

Amazing place !!!' You and your kids will love it!! 100% Covid compliant. Can't say enough about this place. So interesting and fun!! Staff is friendly and informative. And you get to dig across the street. Love love love!!! read more

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We came to this museum with not much knowledge of what to expect- what a treasure! Hands on history for area fossils and you can dig for your own! The learning center has beautiful gems from around the world. The gift shop has fossils you can buy or buckets of dirt to take home to sift through on your own and they will ship it to you in bags. Well worth a visit especially in a lovely day you can dig outside. These were my finds this afternoon. Oh -and excellent reasonable food at Frank and Shirley's restaurant in the same parking lot as Dollar General. read more

Aurora Fossil Museum - Museums Near Me - Aurora, North Carolina

This is a ferry ride away and a super fun day trip. There is a cute little museum with good museum store prices. The museum is free so I recommend spending a few bucks in the museum to keep things moving. We found some amazing sharks teeth, fossilized vertebrae, and more! So much fun to get dirty in the pits with the family! read more

We visited here during their annual Fossil Festival held each Memorial Day. This is a small but nice museum that is free of charge. They have a lot of fossils on display here including big Megalodon teeth. Directly across the street they have a big pit where you can search for your own sharks teeth that comes from the local PCS Phosphate mine close by. You can find a whole lot of them here. If you spend 5-6 hours, you can probably find 100-150 sharks teeth (predominately small but there are definitely decently-sized ones. If you happen to go by this area, definitely stop by. Worth a trip there at some point. read more

Aurora Fossil Museum - Museum Entrance - Museums Near Me - Aurora, North Carolina

We really loved this little museum! The volunteers were very friendly, and the kids enjoyed the exhibits. We brought some of our own digging supplies and bought some more to help support the museum. The kids dug for about 30 minutes and found countless sharks teeth and coral, the biggest tooth about 2 inches. My 6 year old was begging to go back the next day! read more

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An unexpected pleasure. Offering an intelligently presented view of NC geology and paleontology, fabulous local fossil exhibits and even a nice section on North Carolina Native Americans. A new batch of gravels and soils had been unloaded in the yard across the street and we found several nice sharks teeth, corals, marine mammal bones, shells and much more in just 30 minutes, all between 2 million and 8 million years old. So glad they are doing what they do!!! read more

Such a cool experience for kids and families. I would suggest going into the museum before so you understand what you are truly digging for!