The Virginia counterpart to Maryland's Calvert Cliffs — towering Miocene exposures along the Potomac at Stratford Hall. Public access is by paid plantation entry only, but the beach below produces exceptional Calvert and Choptank Formation teeth.
Solid hunting day. Best window opens around the 9:09 PM low (0.3 ft). Moderate NE winds (6 mph). Spring tide cycle adds a little extra range.
Next 3 days: Next few days look steady — all good-range. Pick whatever fits your schedule.
Plan around the good low-tide window. Cliff site — continuous erosion baseline · low tide during daylight · spring tide · best low 63.
Impact on visibility and stir-up over the next 5 days.
Cliff sites score from a baseline plus recent storm stir, daylight low tide timing, wind exposure, and seasonal events (only when storms are actually shedding cliff material).
Solid. Reliable productivity expected.
We are deliberate about which factors to include. These are not currently in the model:
If you think we should add one of these, log a hunt with notes — every rated outcome helps us decide which signals actually predict tooth count.
Late winter freeze-thaw cycles destabilize the Chesapeake Group cliffs. March–early May historically produces the most fresh fall material on the beaches at Brownie's, Matoaka, and Westmoreland.
Walk the narrow beach below the cliffs at low tide. Search the swash zone and recently slumped material; do not dig into or undercut the cliffs. Best after winter storms.
Stratford Hall Plantation charges admission and provides the only legal cliff-base access. Strict 'no-dig' policy on the cliffs themselves; beach surface collecting is allowed.
Surface collecting only on plantation property with paid admission. Removing material from the cliff face is prohibited.
Trophy = headline find · Rare = real score · Uncommon = some trips · Common = most trips.
The beachcomber's bonus round — what else the geology gives up.
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