Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve

When the Chazy Reef was alive, there were no fish with jaws, no plants on land, and no animals of any kind out of the water. The reef was built in warm, shallow seas by early invertebrates, and it records one of the first times in the fossil record that many different kinds of organisms worked together to construct a single reef community.

The rock here is part of a formation that geologists have studied for well over a century, and Isle La Motte holds some of its clearest exposures. The reef builders included stromatoporoids, sponge-like animals that grew in layered mounds, along with early corals, and the sediment around them is packed with the shells of snails and cephalopods, the ancestral relatives of today's squid and nautilus.

Because the whole island once sat far south of the equator and has drifted north over hundreds of millions of years, the fossils are a reminder that even the ground of northern Vermont has traveled an enormous distance across the face of the planet.

The same hard limestone that holds the fossils was prized as building stone. Isle La Motte's quarries produced a dark stone often sold as black marble that was shipped out for use in buildings across the region, and quarrying shaped the island's economy and its immigrant workforce for generations.

Goodsell Ridge itself was later set aside for its scientific value rather than its stone. The Isle La Motte Preservation Trust protects the land and maintains the trails and a modest welcome center in a barn, where volunteers lay out specimens and explanations so visitors can understand the reef without needing a geology degree.

It is a genuinely community-run place, kept open by local stewardship and donations rather than admission fees, which is part of its quiet charm.

A network of mowed paths loops across the meadows and over the exposed rock, with signs pointing out what to look for. The best fossils appear where the limestone has been scoured clean, and low-angle light in the morning or late afternoon throws their shapes into sharper relief.

The setting is pastoral and peaceful. Bobolinks and other grassland birds nest in the surrounding fields, monarch butterflies work the milkweed in summer, and the flat island horizon opens toward Lake Champlain in the distance.

Give yourself time to move slowly. The preserve rewards the visitor who is willing to stop, kneel, and really look at the rock rather than walk over it.

Late spring and summer bring wildflowers, nesting grassland birds, and the fullest access to the welcome center and its displays.

Early fall is comfortable for walking, with cooler air and clearer light for reading the fossils, and the island's apple orchards near harvest.

Winter snow buries the rock and the interpretive value with it, so the fossils are really a snow-free-season attraction; call the season closed once the ground is covered.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve, on Isle La Motte in the Champlain Islands of Vermont, protects an important part of the ancient Chazy Reef, one of the oldest known fossil coral reefs in the world, in a beautiful natural setting. Like the nearby Fisk Quarry, the preserve reveals fossils of the reef and its creatures from a time hundreds of millions of years ago when the area lay beneath a tropical sea, exposed in the exposed bedrock across the meadows and woods. Walking trails and interpretation help visitors find and understand the ancient fossils in this peaceful, globally significant geological site. With its ancient fossil reef, the Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve offers a fascinating destination in Vermont.

You can walk the trails across the meadows and woods to find fossils of the ancient Chazy Reef exposed in the bedrock, see the remains of reef creatures from hundreds of millions of years ago, read interpretive information, and, at the preserve's welcome area, learn more about this ancient reef and its global significance. The ancient reef fossils, the peaceful natural setting, and the sense of deep time are the draws, offering a fascinating and reflective experience. Finding the fossils underfoot is a treat for all ages. With its ancient fossils, the Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve offers an engaging visit in Vermont.

The Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve and the nearby Fisk Quarry Preserve both protect parts of the same remarkable ancient Chazy Reef on Isle La Motte, one of the oldest known fossil coral reefs in the world, formed hundreds of millions of years ago beneath a tropical sea. While the Fisk Quarry reveals the reef in the walls of a historic quarry, Goodsell Ridge exposes it across meadows and woodland bedrock, and the two sites together tell the story of this globally significant fossil reef. Visiting both deepens the experience of the ancient reef on Isle La Motte, Vermont.

The mild months of late spring through fall offer the most pleasant weather for exploring the outdoor preserve, its meadows, woods, and fossils, with fall bringing lovely foliage, while the welcome area and interpretation may be seasonal, so checking current details before you go is wise. Fossils are easiest to spot when the ground is clear of snow. For the most pleasant weather to find and explore the ancient fossils, aim for late spring through fall at the Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve in Vermont.

The Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve is on Isle La Motte in the Champlain Islands of Vermont, near the Fisk Quarry Preserve, within reach of St. Anne's Shrine, the Champlain Islands state parks, and the Lake Champlain island region. That makes the Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve a fascinating stop to combine with the Fisk Quarry Preserve, St. Anne's Shrine, and the other attractions of the Champlain Islands on a visit to Vermont.