COLUMN: Carmel Hopkins

Only Nevada would have an official state fossil. No, it's not your grandfather.

About 200 million years ago, the ichthyosaur (fish lizard) roamed an arm of the Pacific Ocean that covered most of California and extended into Nevada, Utah, Northern Arizona and New Mexico and small parts of Idaho, Montana and Colorado.

Scientists speculate the giant fish were trapped in tidal pools as the sea receded and eventually their bones became covered in sediment and fossilized.

When the earth heaved to form the Sierra about 15 million years ago and volcanoes appeared along the Cascade Range, mountain ranges appeared in parallel rows across Nevada's Great Basin. As these ranges were born, the old sea beds containing ichthyosaur bones were brought into view. Lava from volcanoes in the Shoshone Range again covered the bones, but those deposits have eroded in the past 10 million years.

The bones were discovered by workers in the mid-1800s in the Berlin mining area and were identified in 1928 by professor Siemon M. Muller of Stanford University.

In 1953, Charles Lewis Camp from the University of California began to excavate the site. Enough publicity was generated that the Nevada Legislature established Ichthyosaur Paleontological State Monument in 1955. In 1957, it was incorporated into the state park system.

In 1970, the state purchased the town and defunct gold mine of Berlin, which became part of the park. In 1971, the Berlin town site was designated a historic district and placed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1975, under the sponsorship of the U.S. Forest Service and Nevada Division of State Parks, the ichthyosaur site was designated a Registered Natural Landmark. The ichthyosaur was designated the state's official fossil by the 1977 Legislature.

Visitor's Quarry, where the 19 ichthyosaur remains are on display, was covered by a shelter in 1966. The shelter has since been enclosed to protect and preserve the fossils from the vagaries of nature and vandal.

The ichthyosaur was about 60-feet long and 8-feet wide. Comparable to the size of a whale, scientists estimate the weight at about 40 tons. The fish-lizard's head is about 10-feet long; its eye is a foot in diameter. The tail measured 25 feet, ending in a triangular fin 6-feet wide. Each vertebrae measures about 12 inches in diameter.

Tours of the quarry are given every few hours. However, it was raining cats and dogs the day we arrived -- traveling as quickly as we could on narrow roads while attempting to make the 2 p.m. tour. We were 10 minutes late and saw the ranger giving the tour to one couple -- the only other people in the quarry. The ranger took pity on us and gave us our own private tour.

Believe me when I say half the challenge is getting to the state park, 331 miles north of Las Vegas. Take U.S. Highway 95 north to Lunning, a distance of 288 miles. From there, take Nevada 361 about 27 miles to Nevada 844, less than two miles north of Gabbs.

Don't let the state route designation fool you. The road is passable the first 10 miles, but the last six are dirt. Unless you travel in an off-road vehicle, it's not a very friendly ride. Hopefully, the Legislature will understand that if the road were paved, more tourists might be interested in seeing the park. There's a small entry fee.

Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park is one of the many places that make me proud to be a Nevadan. After all, what other state has a designated fossil?

I hope you enjoyed this third in a series of columns on our trip through Nevada. Anyone interested in doing the same should log on to www.travelnevada.com. Or, buy a copy of "The Complete Nevada Traveler" by David W. Toll.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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