← Back to Purse State Park (Potomac)
Trip planner
Purse State Park (Potomac)
Best windows in the next two weeks, plus a packing list calibrated for cliff beach hunting.
Top 5 windows · next 14 days
1
Saturday, June 13
Cliff site — continuous erosion baseline · low tide during daylight · best low 60
60
Good
2
Sunday, May 31
Cliff site — continuous erosion baseline · low tide during daylight · spring tide · best low 59
59
Good
3
Sunday, June 7
Cliff site — continuous erosion baseline · low tide during daylight · best low 59
59
Good
4
Saturday, June 6
Cliff site — continuous erosion baseline · low tide during daylight · best low 58
58
Good
5
Tuesday, June 9
Cliff site — continuous erosion baseline · low tide during daylight · best low 58
58
Good
Packing checklist
Essentials
- ☐Water (more than you think)
- ☐Hat + polarized sunglasses
- ☐Reef-safe sunscreen
- ☐Phone with offline copy of this dossier
- ☐Snack / electrolytes
- ☐Trash bag — leave it cleaner than you found it
Creek tools
- ☐Sifter + folding shovel
- ☐Wading shoes
- ☐Fanny pack or hip pouch for finds
- ☐Small magnet for testing iron-rich matrix
Find care
- ☐Soft toothbrush
- ☐Padded box for any 2″+ tooth
- ☐Cotton or tissue layers between teeth
- ☐Notebook (or open the Toothhound logbook)
Trip planning
- ☐Permit for the preserve (some are required)
- ☐Recent weather check — high creek = no go
Tactic refresher
Walk the Potomac shoreline at very low tide. Most finds are small but ancient.
Don't forget
MD state park: surface beach collecting allowed.