Wheeler High School Fossil Beds

We invite you to visit OPLI’s Field Center before or after your exploration of the fossil beds to learn about the geology of the area, fossils, and tips on fossil hunting. The Fossil Beds at Wheeler High School, are a place where you can collect fossils in a safe location with interpretive information to help you understand and identify your finds.   These thinly-bedded rocks behind Wheeler High School in Fossil, Oregon represent the bed of a shallow lake that existed here about 33 million years ago, during a time period known as the Oligocene. The climate 33 million years ago was temperate, but somewhat milder and wetter than today.