Field Trips

Explore and Learn about South-Central Texas Geology. Take advantage of these unique trips as part of your GSA Connects 2025 experience.

Add trips when you register. Not attending the meeting? Book separately through the GSA Store.

Register & Add Trips Book Separately

Featured Trips

Explore the geology of South Texas with GSA Connects 2025 field trips. Join experts for hands-on learning experiences that bring geoscience to life in the field. Explore the field trip list when you register or in the GSA Store.

Building Historic San Antonio

Gain an overview of irrigable land, steady water supplies, and varied materials for building, and how they shaped the early settlement 'Valley of the Missions' and San Antonio.

Cave Monitoring in Central Texas

Visit two central Texas caves—part of the longest-running cave monitoring program in the world—and discuss insights from cave monitoring and paleoclimate studies.

Exploring the K/Pg Boundary

View K/Pg boundary deposits across the Gulf of Mexico, with stops at the outcrops along the Brazos River and the IODP Gulf Coast Repository.

Energy Production Innovation

Middle- and high-school teachers and university students will explore subsurface energy technology and innovation at San Antonio field sites to learn about energy resource engineering and geology, and explore energy sector careers.

Investigating Texas Impact Sites

Bridge terrestrial and extraterrestrial geology through the lens of impact sites by visiting proposed and confirmed impact craters.

Dinosaur Tracks and Trackways

See iconic footprints in the Central Texas rock record at risk to disappear located at Canyon Lake Gorge, the Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country, the Mayan Dude Ranch, and the Davenport Ranch.

Program

Geology in the Field

Explore the geology of South Texas with GSA Connects 2025 field trips. Join experts for hands-on learning experiences that bring geoscience to life in the field.

For information regarding trip logistics and specifics, please contact the trip leader directly. Email address can be found within the trip descriptions.

Browse Field Trips

CEUs

Professional Development in the Field

Field trips offer both professional development hours (PDHs) and continuing education units (CEUs). 10 PDHs are credited for one CEU. One CEU equals 10 hours of participation in an organized continuing education experience under responsible sponsorship, capable direction, and qualified instruction.

Learn More

Funding

Field Trip Grants

Are you a geology student or early career professional in the U.S. with a passion for exploration? Apply for funding for all GSA field trips and for the GSA/Chevron Field Trip Grant through this portal. Unleash your inner explorer on a field trip associated with GSA Connects 2025!

GSA’s field trips provide valuable hands-on learning experiences, networking opportunities, and exposure to cutting-edge research in the geosciences in a variety of key geological settings. Grants will be provided on a rolling basis through 1 September, with those applying early having the greatest opportunity for funding. This portal will enable you to apply for Warren Hamilton, Kirk Bryan, GSA Divisions, Kansas Geological Society, Witte Museum, and Chevron funding.

Apply

Participants having fun on a GSA field trip

Tuesday, 14 October

FT25CN425 (Midland, Texas)
Warren Hamilton Field Trip: The West Texas Nexus: Orogeny, Magmatism, K-Pg Boundary, Vertebrate Biostratigraphy, and Chihuahuan Desert Geohydrology
Tue–Sat.,14–18 Oct., 2 p.m. (first day)–5:30 p.m. (last day)
Register

Wednesday, 15 October

FT25CN418 (Catalina Island, California)
Subduction, underplating, and exhumation in a hot subduction zone.
Wed–Sat., 15–18 Oct., 8:45 a.m. (first day) – 8:45 a.m. (last day)
Register

FT25CN404 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Cambrian Earth systems in western Laurentia and Tonto Group of the western Grand Canyon Region
Wed–Sat., 15–18 Oct., 5:00 p.m. (first day) – 12:00 p.m. (last day)
Register

Thursday, 16 October

FT25CN410
Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks: An Exploration of Capitan's Permian Fossil Reef
Thu–Sat., 16–18 Oct., 6:30 a.m. (first day) – 4 p.m. (last day)
Register

FT25CN423
Volcanic stratigraphy of the Paradise Mountain-Pine Peak Caldera Complex, Davis Mountains Volcanic Field, Texas
Thu–Sat., 16–18 Oct., 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Register

FT25CN428 (Salt Lake City or St. George, Utah)
Established, Experimental, and Emergent Geothermal Energy Resources in Utah’s Great Basin
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Thu–Fri., 16–17 Oct. 8:00 a.m. (first day) – 5:00 p.m. (last day)
Register

FT25CN401 (El Paso, Texas)
An Educator's Look at West Texas Geology
Thu–Sat., 16–18 Oct., 12 p.m.
Register

FT25CN415
Regional Perspective of the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk Groups in and around San Antonio
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Thu–Sat., 16-18 Oct., 12 p.m. (first day) – 5:30 p.m. (last day)
Register

Friday, 17 October

FT25CN417 (Austin, Texas)
Sedimentologic, Biostratigraphic and Chemostratigraphic Insights into the Wilcox Group: Implications for Stratigraphic Correlations, Depositional Trends, Paleoclimate and CO₂ Storage
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Fri–Sat., 17–18 Oct., 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Register

FT25CN424
Walking in the footprints of giants: dinosaur tracks and trackways in Albian series of the San Antonio region
Fri–Sat., 17–18 Oct., 8 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
Register

Saturday, 18 October

FT25CN408
Exploring The K/Pg Boundary in the Gulf of Mexico at the Brazos River Outcrops and the Gulf Coast Core Repository
Sat., 18 Oct., 6 a.m.–7 p.m.
Register

FT25CN419
The 10th Texas Hydro~Geo Workshop
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 6 a.m.–10 p.m.
Register

FT25CN405
Cave monitoring in central Texas: Insights into paleoclimatology, karst vadose zone hydrogeology, and cave geomorphology
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m.–6 p.m.
Register

FT25CN407
Energizing the Future: Innovative Energy Production and Environmental Stewardship in Texas
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m–-6 p.m.
Register

FT25CN413
Kirk Bryan Field Trip: Quaternary Landscape Evolution, Soils, and Geoarchaeology in the Medina River Valley, South-Central Texas
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Register

FT25CN414
Kirk Bryan Field Trip & The Hydrology of the Edwards Aquifer and the Geoarchaeology of Spring Lake, South-Central Texas
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Register

FT25CN416
San Miguel Lignite Mine Tour
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Register

FT25CN409
Exploration of the Natural Bridge Caverns and Balcones Escarpment: Its Hydrogeologic Evolution and Geoheritage Attributes
Sat., 18 Oct., 8 a.m.--5 p.m.
Register

FT25CN403
Building San Antonio: Geology, water and building resources in the historic 'Valley of the Missions'
Sat., 18 Oct., 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Register

FT25CN421
On to the Future (OTF): The Flow of Sustainability: Inside the San Antonio Water System
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 1 p.m.–5 p.m.
Register

Monday, 20 October

FT25CN427
Bracken Cave Bat Flight
Mon., 20 Oct., 5:30–9 p.m.
Register

Wednesday, 22 October

FT25CN422
The Flow of Sustainability: Inside the San Antonio Water System
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Wed., 22 Oct., 1 p.m.–5 p.m.
Register

Thursday, 23 October

FT25CN426
Highlights of the Hill Country: A Trip Through the Llano Uplift
Thu., 23 Oct., 7a.m.–8 p.m.
Register

FT25CN406
Cretaceous of the Trans-Pecos: Effects of Eustacy, Bottom-Water Chemistry, Karsting, and Tectonics on Carbonates and Mudrocks
Thu–Sat., 23–25 Oct., 7:30 a.m.–6 p.m.
Register

FT25CN411
Investigating Confirmed and Suspected Impact Sites in Western and Central Texas.
Connects 2025 Theme: From Earth to the Cosmos: Geoscience Beyond Our Planet
Thu–Fri., 23–24 Oct., 8 a.m. (first day) – 5 p.m. (last day)
Register

FT25CN402
Architecture of a Seismic-Scale Normal Fault Zone: The Hidden Valley Fault, Canyon Lake Gorge, Texas
Thu., 23 Oct., 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Register

FT25CN420
The Edwards Aquifer of South-Central Texas - An Aquifer Under Stress
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Thu., 23 Oct., 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Register

Field Trips by Theme

Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
From Earth to the Cosmos: Geoscience Beyond Our Planet

Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century

FT25CN407
Energizing the Future: Innovative Energy Production and Environmental Stewardship in Texas
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m–-6 p.m.
Register

FT25CN415
Regional Perspective of the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk Groups in and around San Antonio
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Thu–Sat., 16-18 Oct., 12 p.m. (first day) – 5:30 p.m. (last day)
Register

FT25CN416
San Miguel Lignite Mine Tour
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 7:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Register

FT25CN417 (Austin, Texas)
Sedimentologic, Biostratigraphic and Chemostratigraphic Insights into the Wilcox Group: Implications for Stratigraphic Correlations, Depositional Trends, Paleoclimate and CO₂ Storage
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Fri–Sat., 17–18 Oct., 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Register

FT25CN419
The 10th Texas Hydro~Geo Workshop
Connects 2025 Theme: Energy and Resource Innovations in the 21st Century
Sat., 18 Oct., 6 a.m.–10 p.m.

Register