Fort Drum Crystal Mine: Fossil Hunting in Okeechobee County, Florida

Plan your visit

Pay-to-dig site

County

Okeechobee County

State

Florida

Nearest road

Herbert Hoover Dike

Coordinates

27.20000, -80.80000

Coordinates are approximate. Confirm the exact ground in the RockHoundR app, where land overlays show which agency manages the area.

Land & collecting status

Pay-to-dig site

This is a fee-dig location. Hours, prices, and what you can keep vary by operator. Call ahead before driving out.

Public-land rules vary by agency, season, and field office. The RockHoundR app pulls live BLM, USFS, NPS, and tribal overlays so you can see exactly which agency manages the ground at this spot.

Best time to visit Fort Drum Crystal Mine

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: September to June. Typical highs run 92°F in midsummer and 74°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 52°F.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, OKEECHOBEE station (5 mi away).

Geology at Fort Drum Crystal Mine

This spot sits on Shelly sediments of Plio-Pleistocene age, mapped as sand and limestone that formed within roughly the last 4 million years. Reworked sediments like these can carry fossils eroded from older beds upstream, typically as rolled bone fragments, teeth, and shell material.

Mapped unit

Shelly sediments of Plio-Pleistocene age

Age

4 Ma to present (Late Pliocene to Pleistocene)

Rock types

sand and limestone

Elevation

10 ft

Geologic mapping via Macrostrat and the underlying state geological survey maps (CC BY 4.0). Bedrock at the surface can vary within a mapped unit.

Sources & verification

Spot details combine the public RockHoundR location dataset, normalized mineral labels, agency land-status checks in the app, and community submissions. Coordinates are approximate until verified in the field.

• Florida Geological Survey
• Florida Museum vertebrate fossil permit
• Florida State Parks rules
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules