Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation

Burgess Shale Hikes – Expert Guides – Famed Fossils – World-class Scenery – 25+ Years of Service.

The two sites that they guide to are the Walcott Quarry and the Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds in Yoho National Park.

Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds
(Family Friendly)
Approximately 7 hours; distance 8 km (5 mi) round trip
If you are new to the Burgess Shale and wish to see abundant and obvious Cambrian fossils, this is the hike to do. The site is strewn with rock slabs containing appendages of the Cambrian predator Anomalocaris Canadensis; trilobites Ogygopsis klotzi, Olenoides serratus and Elrathina cordillerae; as well as brachiopods and sponges.

Walcott Quarry (The Burgess Shale)
Approximately 11 hours; distance 22 km (14 mi)
The Burgess Shale was first discovered in 1909 by Charles Doolittle Walcott. Recent interpretation of these exquisitely preserved 508 million year old fossils has influenced the scientific view of the evolution of life on earth. Visit this UNESCO World Heritage site and learn about the three themes: History of Life, Mountain Building and Glaciation, and Climate Change in the Canadian Rockies.

Check the various page web links for details on the guided hikes.

Above photo:  Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park.