Locality · State waters: Florida Vertebrate Fossil Permit ($5)
Peace River, Arcadia to Zolfo Springs
DeSoto / Hardee, Florida, United States
The Peace River between Arcadia and Zolfo Springs is Florida's premier fossil river, where gravel bars in low water yield megalodon teeth, mammoth and mastodon teeth, horse, sloth, glyptodont and alligator material from the reworked Peace River Formation. A $5 state permit covers the vertebrate finds, and local outfitters rent canoes and sieves. Finds are legal to keep and, for permit holders, to sell.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State / province | Florida |
| County | DeSoto / Hardee |
| Land manager / status | State of Florida (sovereign submerged lands); private riverbanks |
| Access | Canoe or wade in low water (winter–spring); public boat ramps at Arcadia, Brownville, Gardner, Zolfo Springs |
| Formations | Peace River Formation |
| What is found | Otodus megalodon, Hemipristis, Mammuthus, Mammut, Equus, Megalonyx, Glyptotherium, dugong, alligator |
Rules
Vertebrate fossils (bone, mammal and reptile teeth) from state lands and waters require the Florida Vertebrate Fossil Permit, $5 per year from the Florida Museum of Natural History, which also requires an annual report and gives the museum the right to request significant finds; shark teeth and invertebrates need no permit. Sieving by hand is allowed; dredges, pumps and digging into banks are not. Riverbanks above the water line are private.
Source: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/vertpaleo/resources/florida-fossil-permit/ (checked 2026-09-16).
Collecting rules
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Peace River, Arcadia to Zolfo Springs" (Locality). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/localities/peace-river-arcadia-to-zolfo-springs. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-peace-river-arcadia-to-zolfo-springs,
title = {Peace River, Arcadia to Zolfo Springs},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/localities/peace-river-arcadia-to-zolfo-springs}},
year = {2026},
note = {Locality article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.