Baculite Mesa, a mesa northeast of Pueblo, Colorado, rises to 5,394 feet about five miles from the city and forms part of the Pierre Shale Formation, a geologic unit noted for preserving marine fossils. It was named for baculites, extinct cephalopods whose fossils have been discovered there. Those fossil finds have long drawn fossil hunters and academic groups interested in the area's geology and paleontology. Most of the mesa lies on private land, however, so visiting it requires permission.