Camp Nelson National Monument: Paleontological Resource Inventory (Sensitive Version)
Jackson EE, Tweet JS, Santucci VL. 2025. Camp Nelson National Monument: Paleontological Resource Inventory (Sensitive Version). Science Report. NPS/SR—2025/360. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2316119
Camp Nelson National Monument (CANE) in the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky protects the grounds of a Civil War camp known for having been a massive recruitment center for United States Colored Troops and a refugee camp for their families. This report serves as the first step toward documenting abundant paleontological resources within the park that have undoubtably been known to those who have inhabited this area, but had not been thoroughly documented until now. As part of the ongoing effort to record the natural, historical, and cultural resources within National Parks Service properties, this 2025 paleontology resource inventory set out to catalogue the fossils of CANE. Over a three-month period, a survey of fossiliferous outcrops took place at the park, revealing a rich geologic history including the oldest rocks exposed in the state of Kentucky, and diverse Ordovician marine fossils. Outcrops of Late Ordovician age, extending from the oldest Camp Nelson Limestone of the High Bridge Group to the youngest Tanglewood Member of the Lexington Limestone, showcase a variety of shallow marine environments and fossil assemblages. Fossil taxa commonly found within the park include brachiopods, bryozoans, nautiloids, corals, bivalves, gastropods, crinoids, and a variety of trace fossils left behind by these invertebrates. This project produced descriptions and geolocation data for CANE fossils, a map of outcrop locations with their associated geologic formations, and various educational outreach materials to allow CANE staff to continue educating visitors about park paleontology resources post project completion.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Jackson, Emily; Tweet, Justin; Santucci, Vincent
- Date of Issue
- 2025-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2316119
- Units
- CANE , NRSS
- Keywords
- Camp Nelson, Curdsville, Grier, High Bridge, invertebrate paleontology, Lexington, Limestone, Logana, Ordovician, Oregon, Tanglewood, Tyrone