GTA 5 Peyote Plants: All 27 Locations and Animals Guide
GTA 5 peyote plants let you play as animals. Here are all 27 locations, every creature you can become, and how to find the golden peyote to play as Bigfoot.
GTA 5 peyote plants are glowing cactus collectibles that let you play as animals across San Andreas. Eat one and your character hallucinates, taking control of a random creature determined by where the plant grows. There are 27 peyote plants in single-player story mode, and one rare golden peyote turns you into Bigfoot.
What the peyote plants do in GTA 5
Peyote plants were added in the Enhanced edition of GTA 5, the next-gen release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. They do not exist in the original PS3 and Xbox 360 version. Each plant appears as a small glowing cactus with a faint aura, and walking up to one prompts you to eat it.
The moment you eat a peyote, the screen distorts and your character collapses into a hallucination. You then take control of a random animal, free to roam, attack, and explore as that creature until the effect wears off or you choose to end it. The type of animal depends entirely on where the plant is located:
- Plants on low-lying land turn you into a ground mammal.
- Plants placed high up (on rooftops, cliffs, or tall structures) turn you into a bird.
- Plants found underwater turn you into a sea creature.
Switching between Michael, Franklin, and Trevor does not matter. Any of the three protagonists can use any peyote plant.
How many peyote plants are in GTA 5
There are exactly 27 peyote plants in GTA 5 story mode. They break down into two groups:
- 21 land-based plants scattered across Los Santos and Blaine County, including elevated spots that hand you a bird.
- 6 sea plants hidden underwater off the coast and in the rivers.
Collecting the 21 land plants unlocks every controllable animal and awards the Cryptozoologist achievement (a Trophy on PlayStation). The 6 underwater sea plants are not required for Cryptozoologist, though grabbing them rounds out the marine creatures. Plants do not vanish permanently once eaten: they reset and can be used again.
Every animal you can play as
Eating the right peyote lets you control a long roster of creatures. The land mammals and dogs include the Rottweiler, Retriever, Poodle, Pug, Husky, Border Collie, West Highland Terrier, Cat, Coyote, Boar, Cow, Pig, Elk, Rabbit, and Mountain Lion. You can even become a Chop look-alike Rottweiler.
The high-altitude plants turn you into birds: the Hawk, Crow, Cormorant, Hen, Pigeon, and Seagull. Flying around Los Santos as a bird is one of the most relaxing ways to scout the map.
The 6 underwater plants give you the sea creatures: the Tiger Shark, Hammerhead Shark, Killer Whale, Dolphin, Stingray, and Fish. As a shark you can attack swimmers and other sea life, which makes the underwater plants the most chaotic of the set.
For a full collectible-hunting session, pair this run with the cheats and secrets covered in our GTA 5 cheats page, and check the GTA 5 hub for more guides.
Where to find the GTA 5 peyote locations
The plants are spread across the whole map, from the city beaches to the deep wilderness. A few reliable areas to search:
- Mount Chiliad and the Chiliad State Wilderness in the north, home to several land plants and the golden peyote.
- Sandy Shores and Grapeseed in Blaine County, with plants near Trevor's territory.
- The Los Santos coastline and beaches, including elevated bird plants on piers and structures.
- Underwater off the coast, where the 6 sea plants sit on the ocean floor.
The 27 regular plants are available at any time of day or night, so you do not need to wait for a specific window to grab them. Each plant emits echoing animal sounds when you get close, which is the most reliable way to home in on one even if the cactus is hard to see against the terrain. A full visual map of every spot lives on community guides, and you can compare the in-game look against our GTA 5 screenshots.
The golden peyote: how to play as Bigfoot
The rarest collectible is the golden peyote, which turns you into Sasquatch (Bigfoot). Unlocking it is a multi-step Easter egg rather than a simple pickup. You must first:
- Find all 27 regular peyote plants.
- Complete the GTA 5 story.
- Spare the Sasquatch during Franklin's stranger mission "The Last One." If you killed it, the golden peyote will not appear.
Once those conditions are met, golden peyote plants begin spawning in the Chiliad State Wilderness, one per day of the week, only between 5:30 and 8:00 AM in specific weather. The weather requirement differs by platform: it must be foggy on PC and snowy on PS4 and Xbox One. Eat one and you become the Sasquatch, complete with a sonar-style ability.
The Beast hunt and Director Mode reward
The golden peyote leads into the game's deepest secret. You need to eat one golden peyote each day from Sunday through Saturday, in order across the full week. After eating the final plant on Saturday morning, do not end the hallucination. Roar to hear a response, then follow the sound to a chain of NPC corpses that mark a trail.
At the end of the trail, a creature called the Beast drops down and attacks you. Win the fight and the hallucination ends on its own. Your reward is unlocking both the Sasquatch and the Beast as playable characters in Director Mode, letting you replay as either creature whenever you like. It is one of the most elaborate Easter egg chains Rockstar ever built into a single-player Grand Theft Auto game.
