Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
In the early 1900s, paleontologists unearthed the Age of Mammals when they found full skeletons of extinct Miocene mammals in the hills of Nebraska -- species previously only known through fragments. At the same time, an age of friendship began between rancher James Cook and Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota. These two unprecedented events are preserved and protected here... at Agate Fossil Beds.
Alerts
- InformationNo Fuel Services
Fuel up before visiting! Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is 30-50 miles from the nearest service stations.
- InformationLimited Cell Phone Coverage
Cell phone voice and data coverage is very limited in the park and surrounding area. Free visitor WiFi is available in the visitor center.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Trails | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and January the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
The visitor center is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. Summer hours are May 15 through September 30. The visitor center features a large diorama of Miocene mammal fossils, 12-minute park movie, and the James H.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Daemonelix Trail30-60 Minutes
Hike a one-mile trail back in time to the day of the paleocaster, a dry land beaver, and paleosoils, fossilized dirt from the time this landscape was formed.
Opens on the Park Service site - Fossil Hills Trail45-120 Minutes
Hike to University (left) and Carnegie Hills. The 2.7-mile Fossil Hills Trail allows visitors to walk up to and see the famed early 1900s quarries.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
On the National Register nearby
- Harold J. Cook Homestead CabinHistoric district · Agate · 0.8 mi
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Nebraska guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 129 birds, 42 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Ferruginous Hawk · Golden Eagle · Great Horned Owl · Northern Harrier · Prairie Falcon · Red-tailed Hawk · Rough-legged Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Short-eared Owl · Swainson's Hawk · Turkey Vulture · barn owl · cooper's hawk
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Bittern · American Coot · American White Pelican · American Wigeon · Blue-winged Teal · Canada Goose · Great Blue Heron · Great Egret · Green-Winged Teal · Northern Pintail · Pied-billed Grebe · Sandhill Crane · Snow Goose · Virginia rail · Wood Duck · bufflehead
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican avocet · Killdeer · Lesser Yellowlegs · Long-billed Curlew · Upland Sandpiper · Willet · Wilson's Phalarope · Wilson's Snipe · black tern · greater yellowlegs · ring-billed gull · solitary sandpiper
Gamebirds & dovesEurasian Collared Dove · Mourning Dove · Rock Dove · Sharp-tailed Grouse · ring-necked pheasant · wild turkey
WoodpeckersNorthern Flicker · Red-headed Woodpecker · downy woodpecker
Hummingbirds & swiftswhite-throated swift
Also on the checklistAmerican Crow · American Goldfinch · American Robin · American tree sparrow · Baltimore Oriole · Bank Swallow · Barn Swallow · Bell's Vireo · Belted Kingfisher · Black-billed Cuckoo · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-headed Grosbeak · Black-necked Stilt · Blue Grosbeak · Blue Jay · Brewer's Blackbird · Brown Thrasher · Brown-headed Cowbird · Bullock's Oriole · Charadrius vociferus · Chestnut-collared Longspur · Chipping Sparrow · Clay-colored Sparrow · Common Grackle · Common Nighthawk · Common Yellowthroat · Dark-eyed Junco · European starling · Grasshopper Sparrow · Gray Partridge · Green-tailed Towhee · Horned Lark · Lark Bunting · Lark Sparrow · Loggerhead Shrike · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Mountain Bluebird · Northern Mockingbird · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Northern Shrike · Orchard Oriole · Pinyon Jay · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-winged Blackbird · Redhead · Rock Wren · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Savannah sparrow · Say's Phoebe · Sora · Swainson's Thrush · Townsend's Solitaire · Vesper Sparrow · Violet-green Swallow · Western Kingbird · Western Meadowlark · White-crowned Sparrow · Yellow Warbler · Yellow-headed Blackbird · Yellow-rumped Warbler · bobolink · cedar waxwing · cliff swallow · dickcissel · eastern Kingbird · field sparrow · gray catbird · house wren · lazuli bunting · northern cardinal · pine siskin · song sparrow · spotted towhee · western wood-pewee
Small mammalsBlack-tailed Jack Rabbit · MUSKRAT · Northern Pocket Gopher · Ord's kangaroo rat · Plains pocket gopher · White-footed Deermouse · beaver · bushy-tailed woodrat · deer mouse · desert cottontail · eastern cottontail · eastern mole · hispid pocket mouse · masked shrew · meadow vole · orthern grasshopper mouse · plains harvest mouse · plains pocket mouse · porcupine · silky pocket mouse · thirteen-lined ground squirrel · western harvest mouse
Predatorsbadger · coyote · long-tailed weasel · raccoon · red fox · striped skunk · swift fox
Hoofed mammalsPronghorn · WHITETAIL DEER · mule deer
BatsBig Brown Bat · Black Bat · Eastern Red Bat · Little Brown Bat · Long-eared Myotis · Northern Bat · Small-footed Myotis
Also on the checklistDomestic Cat · Microtus ochrogaster · Mustela vison
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Stargazing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
All 14 activitiesHide
Weather & climate
Summers can be very warm, high 90's to 100 with the frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Plan to hike early and come down from the higher points if storms threaten. Winter temperatures can dip as low as -20 with snow and wind. Heaviest snows can be expected in late Spring.
Questions people ask
Does Agate Fossil Beds charge an entrance fee?
No. Agate Fossil Beds is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Agate Fossil Beds open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Is anything closed at Agate Fossil Beds right now?
2 active alerts as of October 14, 2026: No Fuel Services; Limited Cell Phone Coverage.
Source: Alerts
How busy is Agate Fossil Beds?
16,827 recreation visits in 2025, number 333 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Is there cell service at Agate Fossil Beds?
At the park's reference point, FCC coverage maps show AT&T 4G LTE. No reported coverage for Verizon and T-Mobile. Coverage inside the park varies by location.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
When was Agate Fossil Beds established?
1997.
Source: Wikipedia
What is the weather like at Agate Fossil Beds?
Summers can be very warm, high 90's to 100 with the frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Plan to hike early and come down from the higher points if storms threaten.
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
More in Nebraska
