diff --git a/modflow_devtools/fixtures.py b/modflow_devtools/fixtures.py
index ce2fd1be..e0d47a95 100644
--- a/modflow_devtools/fixtures.py
+++ b/modflow_devtools/fixtures.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional
 
 import pytest
-from modflow_devtools.misc import get_mf6_ftypes, get_models
+from modflow_devtools.misc import get_model_paths, get_packages
 
 # temporary directory fixtures
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def pytest_generate_tests(metafunc):
     key = "test_model_mf6"
     if key in metafunc.fixturenames:
         models = (
-            get_models(
+            get_model_paths(
                 Path(repos_path) / "modflow6-testmodels" / "mf6",
                 prefix="test",
                 excluded=["test205_gwtbuy-henrytidal"],
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ def pytest_generate_tests(metafunc):
     key = "test_model_mf5to6"
     if key in metafunc.fixturenames:
         models = (
-            get_models(
+            get_model_paths(
                 Path(repos_path) / "modflow6-testmodels" / "mf5to6",
                 prefix="test",
                 namefile="*.nam",
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ def pytest_generate_tests(metafunc):
     key = "large_test_model"
     if key in metafunc.fixturenames:
         models = (
-            get_models(
+            get_model_paths(
                 Path(repos_path) / "modflow6-largetestmodels",
                 prefix="test",
                 namefile="*.nam",
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ def get_examples():
                 for name, namefiles in examples.items():
                     ftypes = []
                     for namefile in namefiles:
-                        ftype = get_mf6_ftypes(namefile, packages_selected)
+                        ftype = get_packages(namefile, packages_selected)
                         if ftype not in ftypes:
                             ftypes += ftype
                     if len(ftypes) > 0:
diff --git a/modflow_devtools/misc.py b/modflow_devtools/misc.py
index 8be1c613..151231ae 100644
--- a/modflow_devtools/misc.py
+++ b/modflow_devtools/misc.py
@@ -101,20 +101,17 @@ def get_current_branch() -> str:
     raise ValueError(f"Could not determine current branch: {stderr}")
 
 
-def get_mf6_ftypes(namefile_path: PathLike, ftypekeys: List[str]) -> List[str]:
+def get_packages(namefile_path: PathLike) -> List[str]:
     """
-    Return a list of FTYPES that are in the name file and in ftypekeys.
+    Return a list of packages used by the model defined in the given namefile.
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    namefile_path : str
-        path to a MODFLOW 6 name file
-    ftypekeys : list
-        list of desired FTYPEs
+    namefile_path : PathLike
+        path to MODFLOW 6 name file
     Returns
     -------
-    ftypes : list
-        list of FTYPES that match ftypekeys in namefile
+        list of package types
     """
     with open(namefile_path, "r") as f:
         lines = f.readlines()
@@ -126,22 +123,29 @@ def get_mf6_ftypes(namefile_path: PathLike, ftypekeys: List[str]) -> List[str]:
         if len(ll) < 2:
             continue
 
-        if ll[0] in ["#", "!"]:
+        l = ll[0].lower()
+        if any(l.startswith(c) for c in ["#", "!", "data", "list"]) or l in [
+            "begin",
+            "end",
+            "memory_print_option",
+        ]:
             continue
 
-        for key in ftypekeys:
-            if key.lower() in ll[0].lower():
-                ftypes.append(ll[0])
+        # strip "6" from package name
+        l = l.replace("6", "")
 
-    return ftypes
+        ftypes.append(l.lower())
 
+    return list(set(ftypes))
 
-def has_packages(namefile_path: PathLike, packages: List[str]) -> bool:
-    ftypes = [item.upper() for item in get_mf6_ftypes(namefile_path, packages)]
-    return len(ftypes) > 0
 
+def has_package(namefile_path: PathLike, package: str) -> bool:
+    """Determines whether the model with the given namefile contains the selected package"""
+    packages = get_packages(namefile_path)
+    return package.lower in packages
 
-def get_models(
+
+def get_model_paths(
     path: PathLike,
     prefix: str = None,
     namefile: str = "mfsim.nam",
@@ -150,7 +154,12 @@ def get_models(
     packages=None,
 ) -> List[Path]:
     """
-    Find models in the given filesystem location.
+    Find models recursively in the given location.
+    Models can be filtered or excluded by pattern,
+    filtered by packages used or naming convention
+    for namefiles, or by parent folder name prefix.
+    The path to the model folder (i.e., the folder
+    containing the model's namefile) is returned.
     """
 
     # if path doesn't exist, return empty list
@@ -161,7 +170,7 @@ def get_models(
     namfile_paths = [
         p
         for p in Path(path).rglob(
-            f"{prefix}*/{namefile}" if prefix else namefile
+            f"{prefix}*/**/{namefile}" if prefix else namefile
         )
     ]
 
@@ -172,18 +181,22 @@ def get_models(
         if (not excluded or not any(e in str(p) for e in excluded))
     ]
 
-    # filter by package (optional)
+    # filter by package
     if packages:
-        namfile_paths = [
-            p
-            for p in namfile_paths
-            if (has_packages(p, packages) if packages else True)
-        ]
-
-    # get model dir paths
+        filtered = []
+        for nfp in namfile_paths:
+            nf_pkgs = get_packages(nfp)
+            shared = set(nf_pkgs).intersection(
+                set([p.lower() for p in packages])
+            )
+            if any(shared):
+                filtered.append(nfp)
+        namfile_paths = filtered
+
+    # get model folder paths
     model_paths = [p.parent for p in namfile_paths]
 
-    # filter by model name (optional)
+    # filter by model name
     if selected:
         model_paths = [
             model
@@ -191,18 +204,13 @@ def get_models(
             if any(s in model.name for s in selected)
         ]
 
-    # exclude dev examples on master or release branches
-    branch = get_current_branch()
-    if "master" in branch.lower() or "release" in branch.lower():
-        model_paths = [
-            model for model in model_paths if "_dev" not in model.name.lower()
-        ]
-
-    return model_paths
+    return sorted(model_paths)
 
 
 def is_connected(hostname):
-    """See https://stackoverflow.com/a/20913928/ to test hostname."""
+    """
+    Tests whether the given URL is accessible.
+    See https://stackoverflow.com/a/20913928/."""
     try:
         host = socket.gethostbyname(hostname)
         s = socket.create_connection((host, 80), 2)
@@ -214,6 +222,8 @@ def is_connected(hostname):
 
 
 def is_in_ci():
+    """Determines whether the current process is running GitHub Actions CI"""
+
     # if running in GitHub Actions CI, "CI" variable always set to true
     # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/environment-variables#default-environment-variables
     return bool(environ.get("CI", None))
@@ -222,7 +232,7 @@ def is_in_ci():
 def is_github_rate_limited() -> Optional[bool]:
     """
     Determines if a GitHub API rate limit is applied to the current IP.
-    Note that running this function will consume an API request!
+    Running this function will consume an API request!
 
     Returns
     -------
diff --git a/modflow_devtools/test/test_executables.py b/modflow_devtools/test/test_executables.py
index 86cf0aec..9351b9a7 100644
--- a/modflow_devtools/test/test_executables.py
+++ b/modflow_devtools/test/test_executables.py
@@ -7,17 +7,12 @@
 from modflow_devtools.executables import Executables
 from modflow_devtools.misc import add_sys_path, get_suffixes
 
-_bin_path = Path(environ.get("BIN_PATH")).expanduser()
+_bin_path = Path(environ.get("BIN_PATH")).expanduser().absolute()
 _ext, _ = get_suffixes(sys.platform)
 
 
-@pytest.fixture
-def bin_path(module_tmpdir) -> Path:
-    return _bin_path.absolute()
-
-
 @pytest.mark.skipif(not _bin_path.is_dir(), reason="bin directory not found")
-def test_get_path(bin_path):
+def test_get_path():
     with add_sys_path(str(_bin_path)):
         ext, _ = get_suffixes(sys.platform)
         assert (
@@ -26,22 +21,22 @@ def test_get_path(bin_path):
         )
 
 
-def test_get_version(bin_path):
-    with add_sys_path(str(bin_path)):
-        ver_str = Executables.get_version("mf6", path=bin_path).partition(" ")
+def test_get_version():
+    with add_sys_path(str(_bin_path)):
+        ver_str = Executables.get_version("mf6", path=_bin_path).partition(" ")
         print(ver_str)
         version = int(ver_str[0].split(".")[0])
         assert version >= 6
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def exes(bin_path):
-    return Executables(mf6=bin_path / f"mf6{_ext}")
+def exes():
+    return Executables(mf6=_bin_path / f"mf6{_ext}")
 
 
-def test_executables_mapping(bin_path, exes):
+def test_executables_mapping(exes):
     print(exes.mf6)
-    assert exes.mf6 == bin_path / f"mf6{_ext}"
+    assert exes.mf6 == _bin_path / f"mf6{_ext}"
 
 
 def test_executables_usage(exes):
diff --git a/modflow_devtools/test/test_fixtures.py b/modflow_devtools/test/test_fixtures.py
index b85da140..2a06e52c 100644
--- a/modflow_devtools/test/test_fixtures.py
+++ b/modflow_devtools/test/test_fixtures.py
@@ -254,9 +254,11 @@ def test_test_model_mf6(test_model_mf6):
 
 def test_test_model_mf5to6(test_model_mf5to6):
     assert isinstance(test_model_mf5to6, Path)
-    assert len(list(test_model_mf5to6.glob("*.nam"))) >= 1
+    assert any(list(test_model_mf5to6.glob("*.nam")))
 
 
 def test_large_test_model(large_test_model):
     assert isinstance(large_test_model, Path)
-    assert (large_test_model / "mfsim.nam").is_file()
+    assert (large_test_model / "mfsim.nam").is_file() or any(
+        list(large_test_model.glob("*.nam"))
+    )
diff --git a/modflow_devtools/test/test_misc.py b/modflow_devtools/test/test_misc.py
index a89931e7..3f555270 100644
--- a/modflow_devtools/test/test_misc.py
+++ b/modflow_devtools/test/test_misc.py
@@ -1,2 +1,59 @@
-def test_set_dir():
-    pass
+import os
+from os import environ
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+from modflow_devtools.misc import get_model_paths, get_packages, set_dir
+
+
+def test_set_dir(tmp_path):
+    assert Path(os.getcwd()) != tmp_path
+    with set_dir(tmp_path):
+        assert Path(os.getcwd()) == tmp_path
+    assert Path(os.getcwd()) != tmp_path
+
+
+_repos_path = Path(environ.get("REPOS_PATH")).expanduser().absolute()
+_examples_repo_path = _repos_path / "modflow6-examples"
+_examples_path = _examples_repo_path / "examples"
+_example_paths = (
+    sorted(list(_examples_path.glob("ex-*")))
+    if _examples_path.is_dir()
+    else []
+)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not any(_example_paths), reason="examples not found")
+def test_has_packages():
+    example_path = _example_paths[0]
+    packages = get_packages(example_path / "mfsim.nam")
+    assert set(packages) == {"tdis", "gwf", "ims"}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not any(_example_paths), reason="examples not found")
+def test_get_model_paths():
+    paths = get_model_paths(_examples_path)
+    assert len(paths) == 127
+
+    paths = get_model_paths(_examples_path, namefile="*.nam")
+    assert len(paths) == 339
+
+
+def test_get_model_paths_exclude_patterns():
+    paths = get_model_paths(_examples_path, excluded=["gwt"])
+    assert len(paths) == 63
+
+
+def test_get_model_paths_select_prefix():
+    paths = get_model_paths(_examples_path, prefix="ex2")
+    assert not any(paths)
+
+
+def test_get_model_paths_select_patterns():
+    paths = get_model_paths(_examples_path, selected=["gwf"])
+    assert len(paths) == 70
+
+
+def test_get_model_paths_select_packages():
+    paths = get_model_paths(_examples_path, namefile="*.nam", packages=["wel"])
+    assert len(paths) == 64