Lake Jackson Florida ,People are now walking down into the sinkhole basin to hunt for fossils.

[jeff of pa]

May 15, 2026

Lake Jackson, Florida is disappearing into a sinkhole. The 4,000-acre lake outside Tallahassee has drained through Porter Sink into the Floridan Aquifer — and is re-emerging 19 miles south at Wakulla Spring.In late November 2025, in the middle of what the National Weather Service has called Extreme Drought, the sediment plug at the bottom of Lake Jackson gave way. Six months later, the lake is mostly cracked mud, stranded lily pads, and a single 28-foot sinkhole at the center of it all. Cypress trees at the adjacent Cascade Lake show old water lines 10 feet up exposed trunks.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

We are in a drought, the lake in my back yard is down 10-15 feet. Docks across the lake that use to be in water are now 20-25 feet from shore line.

 

[newnan man]

Back in the early 80's I lived near Lake Jackson. It was a large bass & alligator filled lake. It was full of submerged fences because the lake was known to periodically drain through the sinkhole. The ranchers would put up fences and graze cattle on the new grass. Then the sinkhole would plug up and it would refill.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Sink holes open up here in IL due to coal mining. It happens occasionally. I live where an ancient river called Gallacia ran. No coal formed in the river valley. The glacier filled the valley with rock, gravel and sand. The ancient river valley is now an aquifer. My well penetrates the aquifer and I have unlimited water. And no chance of sinkholes.

 

[releventchair]

 

[Digger54]

That's crazy. I wonder if any artifacts may have been exposed and what was found?

 

[newnan man]

I have a lot of points found in Leon and Wakulla County but not from Lake Jackson.

 

[Carl-NC]

I grew up there. In the 70s it was completely full, then suddenly it wasn't. Since then it has never filled back up, it's been in a state of low water level that periodically drops even further.

 

[newnan man]

I grew up there. In the 70s it was completely full, then suddenly it wasn't. Since then it has never filled back up, it's been in a state of low water level that periodically drops even further.

I moved to Tallahassee in 83. I lived on a road that dead ended into a Lake Jackson boat ramp. I never saw the lake before then so I have no idea how large it may have been. It was a huge lake though then but shallow and fence posts everywhere. Still, bass boats were flying around everywhere. I only had a canoe at the time and caught plenty of bass out of it. I stopped by the lake once on the way back from Texas because I had heard it drained. I drove by my old house and parked at the boat ramp. Dirt all the way across the lake. No water at all. It was surreal.

 

[Digger54]

Could you imagine what was going through the minds of the first folks to walk up and see all the water gone? "Someone stole the damn lake!".

 

[Carl-NC]

I moved to Tallahassee in 83. I lived on a road that dead ended into a Lake Jackson boat ramp. I never saw the lake before then so I have no idea how large it may have been. It was a huge lake though then but shallow and fence posts everywhere. Still, bass boats were flying around everywhere. I only had a canoe at the time and caught plenty of bass out of it. I stopped by the lake once on the way back from Texas because I had heard it drained. I drove by my old house and parked at the boat ramp. Dirt all the way across the lake. No water at all. It was surreal.

Yup. I grew up in Havana, drove by the lake all the time. I was in college at FSU when it took the big dump, one day I drove home and it was just gone. Then it filled back up, but maybe half way, never more. Did you ever see a yellow biplane drags its wheels on the lake? That would've been my dad.

I'm surprised you never found any points around Jackson since the burial mounds are close by. A friend of mine pulled a bunch from around Lake Iamonia.

 

[newnan man]

Yup. I grew up in Havana, drove by the lake all the time. I was in college at FSU when it took the big dump, one day I drove home and it was just gone. Then it filled back up, but maybe half way, never more. Did you ever see a yellow biplane drags its wheels on the lake? That would've been my dad.

I'm surprised you never found any points around Jackson since the burial mounds are close by. A friend of mine pulled a bunch from around Lake Iamonia.

I never looked around the lake for points, duh! I did snorkel the wild springs in Wakulla County and Sopchoppy River. Never saw a bi plane, that would have been something.