FOSSILS OF THE UPPER CRETACEOUS MOTORCROSS SITE: NANAIMO

Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri

One of the classic fossil localities on Vancouver Island lies within the Santonian–Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Haslam Formation at the old Motocross Pit near Brannen Lake, just outside Nanaimo, British Columbia. 

Once an active quarry, the site now hums with the roar of dirt bikes and the scent of gasoline and wet earth carried on the coastal wind. The air is cool and mineral-rich, and if you pause between races, you can catch the distant rush of Benson Creek Falls through the evergreens. 

A smaller gravel operation still works nearby, closer to Ammonite Falls, where shale and sandstone beds of the Nanaimo Group continue to reveal fossils from an ancient seaway that once covered this region. 

Despite its modern transformation, the Motocross Pit remains one of the most storied and scientifically valuable fossil sites of the Nanaimo Group.

We find well-preserved nautiloids and ammonites — Canadoceras, Pseudoschloenbachia, Epigoniceras — the bivalves — Inoceramus, Sphenoceramus— gastropods, and classic Nanaimo Group decapods — Hoploparia, Linuparus. We also find fossil fruit and seeds which tell the story of the terrestrial history of Vancouver Island.

The Motocross Pit locality was first brought to my attention by John Fam, Vice-Chair of the Vancouver Island Paleontological Society (VanPS). John is one of those rare individuals whose enthusiasm for paleontology is matched only by his warmth and generosity. During his years on Vancouver Island, he was an active VanPS member and a key collaborator during my tenure as Chair. Many of the most memorable joint VIPS/VanPS expeditions were sparked by his curiosity, leadership, and infectious passion for fossils.

John grew up just fifteen minutes from the Motocross locality and spent countless hours there collecting specimens with his father. His love of fossils is a family affair—one that continues today with his wife, Grace, and their two young sons, who now share in the same sense of wonder that first drew John to the site.

I first met John many years ago and still remember staying overnight at his parents’ home before a weekend field trip to Jurassic Point. That evening, he shared stories of his early fossil-hunting adventures and walked me through his carefully curated collection—an experience that spoke volumes about his dedication to the science and art of paleontology.

Upper Cretaceous Haslam Fm near Brannen Lake

Inspired by his stories, I later visited the Motocross Pit with my uncle Doug, a kind and curious man who had explored much of the coast but had never seen this fossil treasure so close to home. 

We spent the day walking through time together, tracing the ancient layers of the Cretaceous seafloor. 

When I returned to the site alone this past year, the wind in the trees and the scent of damp shale carried a bittersweet note—reminding me of the joy of that shared day and of one of the best men I have ever known, now gone but never forgotten. 

As I approached the site, there were no people around, so I walked the periphery looking for the bedrock of the Haslam. The rocks we find here were laid down south of the equator as small, tropical islands. They rode across the Pacific heading north and slightly east over the past 80 million years to where we find them today.

Upper Cretaceous Haslam Formation Motocross Pit

Jim Haggart and Peter Ward have each made remarkable contributions to our understanding of the rich molluscan fauna of the Nanaimo Group, the Late Cretaceous sedimentary sequence that records the history of an ancient seaway once spanning much of what is now coastal British Columbia and Washington State.

Both men bring to paleontology a mix of scholarly rigor and adventurous spirit—embodying, in the best sense, that “Indiana Jones” archetype of the field scientist: field-worn boots, weathered notebooks, and an endless curiosity for the deep past. 

Their fieldwork across Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the San Juan archipelago has provided essential biostratigraphic correlations, linking fossil assemblages across what were once the submerged margins of the Wrangellia Terrane. 

Through careful mapping, fossil collection, and stratigraphic analysis, their work has helped clarify the temporal and environmental relationships among the various formations of the Nanaimo Group, from the Haslam and Extension to the Pender and Geoffrey formations.

Haggart and Ward’s research builds on a long tradition of geologic and paleontological inquiry in the region. Foundational studies by Usher (1952), Matsumoto (1959a, 1959b), and Mallory (1977) established the first detailed taxonomic and biostratigraphic frameworks for these Late Cretaceous faunas. 

Equally significant was the work of Muller and Jeletzky (1970), who untangled the complex lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic relationships within the Nanaimo Group—providing the bedrock upon which modern interpretations stand.

Together, this lineage of research has transformed the Nanaimo Group from a series of scattered coastal outcrops into one of the best-documented Cretaceous marine sequences in western North America, offering crucial insight into paleogeography, faunal migration, and the dynamic tectonic history of the Pacific margin.

Candoceras yokoyama, Photo: John Fam, VanPS

As I walked along the bedrock of the Haslam, a Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, followed me from tree to tree making his guttural shook, shook, shook call. 

Instructive, he seemed to be encouraging me, timing his hoots to the beat of my hammer. Vancouver Island truly has glorious flora and fauna.

Fancy some additional reading? Check out a paper published in the Journal of Paleontology back in 1989 by Haggard and Ward on Nanaimo Group Ammonites from British Columbia and Washington State.

In it, they look at the ammonite species Puzosia (Mesopuzosia) densicostata Matsumoto, Kitchinites (Neopuzosia) japonicus Spath, Anapachydiscus cf. A. nelchinensis Jones, Menuites cf. M. menu (Forbes), Submortoniceras chicoense (Trask), and Baculites cf. B. boulei Collignon are described from Santonian--Campanian strata of western Canada and northwestern United States.

Stratigraphic occurrences and ranges of the species are summarized and those taxa important for correlation with other areas in the north Pacific region and Late Cretaceous ammonite fauna of the Indo-Pacific region. Here's the link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1305358?seq=1

Peter Ward is a prolific author, both of scientific papers and more popularized works. I highly recommend his book Gorgon: Paleontology, Obsession, and the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth's History. It is an engaging romp through a decade's research in South Africa's Karoo Desert.

Photo: Candoceras yokoyamai from Upper Cretaceous Haslam formation (Lower Campanian) near Nanaimo, British Columbia. One of the earliest fossils collected by John Fam (1993). Prepared using only a cold chisel and hammer. Photo & collection of John Fam, VIPS.