Bear Gulch Limestone Fossil Site, Montana - 30" x 24"

In Episode 1 of Prehistoric Road Trip we filmed at a fossil fish site outside of Lewistown, Montana, where scientists have been excavating layer upon layer of ancient sharks and creatures from a shallow inland sea that flooded the area around 323 million years ago. You can watch that entire segment here: There’s something fishy in Montana’s fossil deposits.

I was completely stuck with just how tall this rock formation is; it’s 90 feet of sandwiched layers of shaley-gray limestone, full of old fish and crabs and secrets. We filmed for two entire days in this area and didn’t find much in the way of jaw-dropping fossils, but the views were incredible and, honestly, if you saw just how massive these rock formations are – spanning dozens of miles in both directions – you’d easily understand how one could spend decades looking under rocks for special fish and not ever get bored of it.

It’s hard to get a sense of scale in a painting, but I added my hat and backpack down at the bottom of the formation in an attempt at capturing scale.

Prints of this painting are also available.