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Anyone know if the park is currently open? How's the hunting been there lately? Thanks. I really need to get out and hunt some shark teeth.

The last couple of fossil hunting seasons on the Peace River have been pretty short and limited. In 2017 Hurricane Irma made a mess of Florida and pretty much ran directly over the Peace River causing unbelievable flooding in the area (Canoe Outpost in Arcadia had to rebuild their office after the waters rose to waist-deep). Last season frequent periodic heavy rains kept spiking up the river level anytime it got down near levels that would have permitted decent fossil hunting. Both seasons were very brief but persistent fossil hunters (driven nearly mad from the waiting) did manage to pull some nice fossils from the rivers and creeks despite the limited opportunities. This season Florida seems to have relocated the switch for the secret hurricane repulsion device and we have been spared any storms. The northern Bahamas sadly were not so lucky and that is a continuing mess that will take more than a year to try to recover from. I remember a time nearly a decade ago when the vagaries of the weather patterns conspired to put Florida into drought conditions. It was a weird year for weather all around. We had a strong blast of cold air from the north that, instead of being repelled quickly, held on for an extended period. This caused enormous fish kills in Florida Bay where the shallow waters quickly cooled below the tolerance of many species and stuck around long enough to make a severe impact. I worked on a project monitoring coral reef health on the Florida reef tract which usually looks for coral bleaching and mortality during the peak-of-summer water heating events. It was a mild year for bleaching but corals are also susceptible to temps below their liking and an estimated one sixth of all corals in the Florida reef tract died during that two-week period over the winter of 2009-10 (some reefs experienced a 75% reduction in corals). In 2010 the rainy season failed to appear as expected and by autumn we were under water conservation restrictions with limits on the days that we could water to try to resurrect our brown hay into lawns. I can remember being in the Peace River nine years ago to the day on Sunday, 10-10-10 near Arcadia. The river was so low that it was virtually impossible to navigate without getting out and dragging the canoe over large sandbars only a few inches deep. It was an interesting time to see parts of the bottom of the Peace River that were normally hidden by deep dark water. It was early enough in my fossil hunting experience that I likely did not take appropriate advantage of the deeper holes which might have produced some prizes that were normally off limits. http://www.canoeoutpost.com/peace/showpage.asp?page=waterlevel I just checked the Canoe Outpost water level page and the river is at their "normal" datum point. This is when the level of their floating dock aligns with their fixed dock. Fossil hunting usually starts about a foot below this and gets really good about two feet below. If we can avoid any late season hurricanes we might have an early start and (finally) a nice long fossil hunting season in South Florida. I'm assuming that the Florida regulars @jcbshark @Sacha @Shellseeker @Bone Daddy and others are keeping their eyes on the water levels and hoping for a productive season to make up for the last two. Looking forward to seeing an over-abundance of nice finds this season. Cheers. -Ken

We have time to go to Post Oak Creek today. Does anyone know if the water level has receded enough from yesterdays rain?

I live in Florida but it is still an hour and a half drive to Gainesville. I can't find out if the water is still high from the hurricane or not. Is there anyone that lives by that can tell me. Thank you

So I figured I would share this little bit of information for those that want to go to Green Mills Run, but live a good distance away and want to determine if the trip is going to be a bust due to water level conditions. So this is something I have used for the past 2 years and has yet to let me down. I frequent the creek on a weekly basis and have recorded observations of the creek water levels based on the Tar River at Greenville,NC Hydro-Graph. You can find that at this web address: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=mhx&gage=PGVN7 . Now, if the water levels are at 6 foot or below, the creek water level is perfect for hunting, just as long as there hasn't been 24hrs or more of consistent heavy rains or strong winds out of the East. This usually increases the creek water levels about another foot or more. Then it become kind of iffy in that situation. I would say its about an 80% chance that I would go. You wont have too many creek bed exposures, but hunting isn't impossible. When the Hydro-Graph is around 7 to 8 feet, fossil hunting isn't impossible, but your limited to certain areas of the creek usually around Green Springs park or by the cemetery. When the hydro-graph shows water levels above 8 feet, don't waste your time. Also note that if the Hydro-Graph shows consistent days of 9 feet or more in the Tar River, even if the graph shows water levels in the Tar River around 6 feet a day or so after you checked the graph, Green Mills Run take a few days for the water level to get back to normal. It doesn't flow very fast. Well this is my 2 cents. I have yet to find any information out there to help fossil hunter that like to hunt Green Mills Run in regards to the water level and trip planning. Please share your thoughts and opinions even if they vary from my results.