Geology Rocks! Field Trip 2025

Registration for the bus trip is closed.

Geology Field Trip Explores Local Wonders

Annual geology bus trip with our ever-popular geologist, Jeri Jones of Jones Geological Services of Spring Grove, Pa.

Hosted by Buttonwood Nature Center, the trip is open to those age 8 and up.

The group will board the bus at 8:15 a.m. and return to Waynesboro about 6 p.m.

Stop 1: The first stop is the No. 9 Coal Mine and Museum in Lansford, Pa., where the group will take a guided tour into a once-active underground coal mine, including the hospital. 

According to their website, the No. 9 Coal Mine was opened in 1855 by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. A large vein of anthracite coal, known as the Mammoth Vein, was the main focus of mining operations.

The No. 9 Mine operated from 1855 until June 22, 1972, making it the longest continuously-operated deep anthracite coal mine in the world.

In 1992, a nonprofit group acquired the abandoned mine. After years of restoration work it opened for tours in 2002.

Those touring the mine ride by rail 1,600 feet into the mountain before embarking on a 600-foot guided walking tour. Visitors can examine the original 700-foot-deep mine shaft, walk the “mule-way” (where young men guided mules between the different levels of the mine), and see a miners’ hospital cut into solid rock.

Stop 2: [Revised itinerary]
The second stop is a newly-discovered fern fossil site not far from the #9 Coal Mine, where we will spend about 2.5 hours. We will see large slabs of rock from the Pennsylvanian age (around 323 million years ago to 298 million years ago).

“This ancient shale contains fossils of plants that lived during the formation of our coal resources,” Jones said. 

Because of this exciting new stop, participants should wear steel-tipped shoes or sturdy hiking boots/shoes. If you have a hard hat please bring it with you. (Hard hats are suggested, not mandatory). Some hard hats will be available to borrow.
Also bring a hammer, newspaper for wrapping specimens, a bucket or box to place specimens and safety glasses if you have them. Gloves are suggested as we will be working with coal shales.

A collecting guide will be available for all participants to identify what they find.

The group will have lunch at the No. 9 Coal Mine pavilion—everyone should bring a bagged lunch and beverages.

The trip is via bus, provided, and pre-registration is required. Cost for the trip is $65 for members of Buttonwood Nature Center/The Institute, and $70 for the general public. Meeting point provided upon registration.

A geologist for more than 45 years, Jones has conducted extensive research on Pennsylvania mining practices, authored several publications, and narrated a 3-part video series on regional geology known as “TimeWalk.” He has been on the faculties of several regional colleges.

This program is presented in partnership with the Franklin County Rock and Mineral Club, and underwritten in part by Marge Kiersz, Lucinda D. Potter, CPA, and SEK CPAs & Advisors.

Additional support provided by Buttonwood’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; Alma W. Oyer; Marge Kiersz; APX Enclosures; Don Gibe and Nancy Erlanson; and the family of the late Carolyn Terry Eddy, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin.