Karoo Fossil Beds — Beaufort West South Africa
The Beaufort Group's Permian fossil beds of the Great Karoo — 260-million-year-old deposits in the Karoo National Park and the surrounding semi-desert landscape that contain the world's most complete record of the 'Great Dying' mass extinction event and the rise of the mammal-like reptiles (therapsids) that eventually gave rise to all mammals — are exposed by erosion in virtually every road-cut and riverbed visible from the N1 highway. The Karoo's therapsid fossils (Dicynodon, Cynognathus, and the dog-like cynodonts whose descendants became the first mammals 225 million years ago) are collected by IZIKO Museum palaeontologists in active field seasons from April through October, with public participation opportunities on the Fossil Trail near Beaufort West. The Karoo's combination of the extraordinary fossil richness (a complete 4-tier food chain of 260 million years ago visible in the rock), the landscape's geological exposure (erosion creating new fossil opportunities after every rain), and the Karoo National Park's springbok, bat-eared fox, and black rhino populations creates a palaeontological-wildlife encounter of unusual completeness.
About this spectacle
Standing in the Karoo's sun-bleached badlands, you are looking at the aftermath of Earth's greatest catastrophe — the Great Dying, 260 million years ago. Along the Fossil Trail near Beaufort West and in virtually every road-cut along the N1 highway, eroding mudstone and sandstone layers of the Beaufort Group expose the bones of therapsids: Dicynodon, Cynognathus, and the dog-like cynodonts whose lineage eventually became the first mammals. After rains, fresh fossils wash out of the hillsides, and active IZIKO Museum field teams are sometimes visible at work from April through October. The landscape itself is the exhibit — vast, quiet, rust-and-ochre plains broken by flat-topped koppies, with springbok grazing among the same rock formations that entombed ancient ecosystems. The silence is immense. Heat shimmers off the stones. You crouch beside a fragment of skull and touch something 225 million years older than you, lying exactly where it fell.
When to go
Jan — Dec, peak Apr — Oct
Getting there
Nearest airport: JNB. Nearest city: Beaufort West.
Booking options
Goyova doesn't process bookings directly. When you tap "Plan this trip" in the app, you'll see options from our partner providers — accommodation, tours, transport — with affiliate links where applicable. See our affiliate disclosure for details.
More like this.
Returns Jan 2027 Abisko Aurora Sky Station
Sweden
Off-season Actun Tunichil Muknal — Cayo Belize
San Ignacio, Cayo District, BZ
Peak season Aekingerzand
NL