Memphis Area (Richardson's Landing)

This database entry is labeled "Memphis," but its coordinates land about 25 miles north of the city, in Tipton County, Tennessee — matching Richardson's Landing, a documented Pleistocene fossil and Mississippi River gravel locality, not a spot inside Memphis itself. Richardson's Landing is known to Memphis-area collectors: the Memphis Museum holds Pleistocene fossils (peccary, bear, mastodon) recovered here, and it's been the subject of organized field trips by the Memphis Archaeological and Geological Society. The Mississippi River carries agate, jasper, and other hard material more than a thousand miles from Great Lakes and upper-Midwest source rock, depositing it in gravel bars along the way — which is why "Lake Superior agate" turns up this far south. Treat this as a real regional gravel-bar and fossil site, just not literally within Memphis city limits.

The coordinates for this entry point to Richardson's Landing on the Mississippi River in Tipton County, Tennessee, north of Memphis. We found no specific public boat ramp or road access confirmed for the exact landing — river gravel-bar access in this stretch typically depends on river stage and local landowner permission.

Surface gravel-bar picking after the river drops from spring flood stage, typically late May through October depending on the year — high water buries and covers productive gravel. No specialized tools beyond a bucket; look for waterworn, rounded material rather than sharp fragments.

Land status is UNVERIFIED — river gravel-bar access along the Mississippi varies by exact location and river stage, and getting to a specific gravel bar may cross private riverfront property. This is also a documented vertebrate fossil site (Memphis Museum-held Pleistocene fossils); note that collecting vertebrate fossils carries different legal considerations than picking up loose rock, and permits or permissions may apply depending on land ownership at any specific spot.