Last weekend was probably our most random adventure to date! We drove an hour north to a town I’d never heard of to do something we’d never done. We went shark tooth hunting in Sherman, Texas! Did you know that was a thing? Two weeks ago, I didn’t either. Keep reading to get more details, and to learn why I do recommend this adventure in cooler months, but do not recommend this in hot weather. If you’re looking for more ideas on family adventure in Texas, follow me on Instagram!
Friday night I was reading online when an ad popped up mentioning something along the lines of “Family Fun in Frisco.” I always click these links because I like to know what I’m missing out on. I was happily surprised when this article had something new for me! It mentioned shark tooth hunting in Sherman, Texas. I immediately pulled up a new window and searched this. There wasn’t a ton of information on it, but I’m not opposed to winging it. Twelve hours and only one wrong turn later we were testing our luck in the Post Oak River!
Here’s what you need to know:
Location: Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas. The best place to look is under the bridge on Travis Street. I don’t have an exact address, but putting this in your GPS will get you really close: 2298 S Travis St, Sherman, TX 75090. There is only one bridge on Travis street in Sherman, so when you find a bridge, you’re in the right place. There isn’t a parking lot, but there is plenty of space to pull off to the side of the road and park your car as close to the bridge as you can get. From the road, it’s less than a quarter mile “hike” to the river.
Time: From North Dallas, it took us just under an hour to reach the bridge. I love strapping my boys in the car, going somewhere they can play and explore until exhaustion, preferably outside, then containing them in their car seats again for a drive home. These long drives aren’t a problem for us! We spent just under two hours at the river. My five year old could have stayed longer, but my two year old was ready to leave after an hour.
What to bring: Bug spray, shoes that can get wet, drinking water, and any sort of sand sifter. We just used the sifter that came in my kid’s beach toy set. You could even use a strainer. It’s also fun to have buckets and shovels. A garden shovel would be great.
How to look for teeth and fossils: We found a shark tooth about every 10 minutes. That seems to be pretty typical. So don’t get discouraged if you don’t find anything right when you get there! The ground is covered in Oyster fossils, so those are a fun reward between finding shark teeth. It’s helpful to look up pictures before you go so you know what to look for. Most shark teeth are really small, smaller than a penny, so you really have to sift through lots of little rocks to find one. I’m obviously no expert in this sort of thing, but our method was to just scoop up the ground and put it in the sifter, then slowly go through whatever got trapped in the sifter. Within the 90 minutes we were there, we found 7 shark teeth.
Warnings: Like any river in texas, you’ll run the risk of seeing lots of bugs and possibly snakes. You’ll also want to check the weather- on’t go if there’s a chance of rain, or has been heavy rain in the past couple days! Here’s the scary warning and why I wouldn’t recommend this adventure in the summer: Have you heard of Primary Amebic Meningeoncephalitis (a deadly disease from amoebas)? It is extremely rare, but also extremely fatal, killing about two to three people a year, usually in Texas or Florida. This amoeba is really only found in warm shallow rivers and stagnant water when the sediment is stirred up. Even though this is nothing to be paranoid about, the conditions of this river are perfect for PAM. The risk is small during the summer months, but I’d highly suggest going in colder weather, when PAM isn’t a risk at all.
My five year old loves anything to do with “being a scientist” and I correctly assumed this would be a thrill for him. He now loves showing off his treasures to neighbors and friends. Besides it just being a fun weekend adventure, it’s easy to make this an educational experience too! This is a hands-on way to learn about fossils, geology, and the cretaceous period when Texas was covered in water. On that note, if this sounds fun to you, you would also probably love Dinosaur Valley State Park!
Let me know if this is something your family would enjoy, or if you have any questions I didn’t answer! Happy tooth hunting!
Great information!
The pictures are awesome.