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Join your qualified geologist guide on a 2-hour trip to one of North Yorkshire’s best beaches for family-friendly fossiling.SUITABILITY – Ideal for families, beginners, and amateurs. Not suitable for people unable to walk up/down steps, as step-free access to Cayton Bay beach is unavailable.
LEVEL: Beginner – the trip follows a 1-1.5 mile walk along the wide, flat, sandy beach of Cayton Bay, which is accessed by a steep but well-maintained path and steps.
START LOCATION – Old Filey Road, Cayton Bay, North Yorkshire. YO11 3NP. (We meet at the top of the footpath leading down to the Salty Dog café and beach: https://maps.app.goo.gl/k4Hw7MAfzinxJjwM6)
FINISH LOCATION – on the sands of Cayton Bay beach.
This family-friendly fossil trip to Cayton Bay takes you down onto one of North Yorkshire’s finest beaches. There, in the shingle, we can find a wide array of fossils, ranging from local Jurassic ammonites, bivalves and gastropods to Carboniferous plants, corals and crinoids, carried to Cayton Bay by glaciers in the last Ice Age.
The trip begins on the old Filey Road above Cayton Bay, with our group meeting at the top of the path down to the Salty Dog café. There is usually plenty of parking along the old Filey Road, whilst Cayton Bay is also well-served by buses from Scarborough and Filey. Your guide will give a safety briefing before we set off. Staying safe is our top priority, as Cayton Bay is regularly affected by rockfalls and landslides, whilst the waves and tides are always a risk. We reduce these risks by always going out on a falling tide, and always staying well away from the cliffs.
Having followed the path and steps down into Cayton Bay, your guide will introduce the different fossils that you might find. They will also explain the Jurassic and Ice Age geology that forms the bay, and the different environments that have been present in the area over the last 160 million years. Once primed with this knowledge it is time to start looking through the pebbles on the beach and see what we can find.
Depending on the beach conditions, the walk can go to the north or the south ends of the bay. Both have many local Jurassic fossils, mixed in with Ice Age ‘erratic’ fossils, and these can be found simply by picking through the shingle. No hammering is required, just patience and a keen pair of eyes. Your expert guide will happily help you work out what you’ve found, with impressive discoveries frequently made here.
This 2-hour tour combines academic knowledge with tips for keeping safe on the coast and the important message of responsible fossil collecting.
This trip leaves from the top of the footpath leading down to the Salty Dog café, on the old Filey Road, Cayton Bay, North Yorkshire. YO11 3NP: https://maps.app.goo.gl/k4Hw7MAfzinxJjwM6. Please arrive 15 minutes before the start time.
Please wear beach-suitable footwear (ideally welly boots) and bring warm, waterproof clothing.
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