Date/Time
Date(s) - 22 March 2026
9:30 am - 11:30 am
Location
Redcar Beach
Categories
Join your qualified geologist guide on this 2-hour tour of one of Britain’s best places for family-friendly fossil-finding!
SUITABILITY – Ideal for families, beginners, and amateurs.
LEVEL: Beginner – A very accessible route of around 1 mile, starting on the grass of Redcar Stray, walking a short distance to the beach via steps or concrete slipway, and then following the sand and shingle beach to the gently sloping Jurassic layers of Redcar Rocks.
START LOCATION – Coast Road, Zetland Park, Redcar, TS10 3AZ (on the grass of the Stray, next to the Zetland Park bus stop: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9i2LYwumekzRxt2w5)
FINISH LOCATION – Redcar Rocks, near the Redcar Beacon, Esplanade, Redcar, TS10 3AA (https://maps.app.goo.gl/hvx8QFGMtkVMu6bi9)
Redcar Rocks are probably the most prolific place in Britain for fossil-finding, with thousands of Jurassic sea creatures just waiting to be spotted in the shingle. Even better, there are no cliffs to worry about, and access to the beach is as good as it gets on the Yorkshire Coast!
We will meet on The Stray, opposite Zetland Park at the east end of Redcar, where your guide will give a safety briefing. Staying safe is our top priority, and although there are no cliffs at Redcar, we must never underestimate the waves or tides of the North Sea. To reduce the risks, we always go out on a falling tide.
Once we walk down the concrete steps or slipway down onto the beach, we will walk west towards Redcar Rocks. The beach is sandy to begin with, but soon has plenty of shingle, and your expert guide will explain the Jurassic and Ice Age geology of the area, and introduce the fossils we might find. Every single person on the trip is absolutely guaranteed to find Redcar’s most iconic fossil: the devil’s toenail. These curvy Jurassic oysters occur in incredible numbers in some of the rock layers, and get washed out into the shingle by the sea. Indeed, you can find them all the way down the Yorkshire Coast!
It’s not all about devil’s toenails, though. At Redcar we can spot Jurassic ammonites, belemnites, crinoids, fossilized wood, gastropods, and – thanks to Ice Age clays being plastered on top of the Jurassic rocks – lots of erratic fossils, especially corals, from further up the coast. And if that’s not enough, winter storms often uncover a prehistoric forest, hidden beneath the sands of the beach!
This 2-hour walk finishes on the beach at Redcar Rocks, near Redcar Beacon, after which participants can decide whether to explore more of the beach, or to walk up onto Redcar Esplanade for ice cream, fish and chips, and amusement arcades!
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