Locality · Mixed: state park (closed), private ranches
Glendive and the Makoshika badlands
Dawson, Montana, United States
Glendive in eastern Montana sits on Hell Creek badlands, with Makoshika State Park protecting the best public exposures and the Frontier Gateway Museum showing local finds. Private ranches around Glendive supply Triceratops and hadrosaur material to the trade, and the town hosts a few commercial dig operators. It is the easiest place for a collector to see Hell Creek geology from a paved road.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State / province | Montana |
| County | Dawson |
| Land manager / status | Montana State Parks (Makoshika, closed to collecting); private ranches |
| Access | Makoshika: view only; private ranches by permission or paid digs |
| Formations | Hell Creek Formation |
| What is found | Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, microvertebrates |
| Coordinates (public site) | 47.08, -104.68 |
Rules
Makoshika State Park prohibits all fossil collecting; the surrounding Hell Creek outcrops on private land are collected under landowner agreements, and several local outfits run pay digs. Montana has no state fossil law for private land, but state trust lands require a permit from the DNRC.
Source: https://fwp.mt.gov/stateparks/makoshika (checked 2026-09-16).
Collecting rules
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Glendive and the Makoshika badlands" (Locality). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/localities/glendive-and-the-makoshika-badlands. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-glendive-and-the-makoshika-badlands,
title = {Glendive and the Makoshika badlands},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/localities/glendive-and-the-makoshika-badlands}},
year = {2026},
note = {Locality article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.