Canoeing & Kayaking Florida

by Johnny Molloy

Overview

From the exciting and beautiful runs of the Panhandle's Econfina Creek to slower floats through wildlife-rich Everglades National Park, Canoeing & Kayaking Florida will lead you to hours of fun with more than 100 profiles of the Sunshine State's best creeks, rivers, and coastals waterways. Perfect for novice and experienced paddlers, this updated edition includes: updated maps and contact information, new river profiles, ratings for solitude and scenery, at-a-glance data that includes river class, length, time, gauge, level, gradient, and volume.

With your first trip, you'll find this book as indispensable as the paddle and life jacket. This authoritative guide now includes profiles of three streams in the western Panhandle's Eglin Air Force Base Reservation, including Boiling Creek, Titi Creek, and Turkey Creek. Wet your paddle and whet your taste for outdoor adventure with Canoeing & Kayaking Florida.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634043632
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	12/05/2023
Series:	Canoe and Kayak Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Johnny Molloy is a writer and adventurer based in Johnson City, TN. He has written more than 40 books about the outdoors, including hiking, camping, and paddling guidebooks; comprehensive guidebooks about specific areas; and true outdoor adventure books set throughout the Eastern United States. Molloy writes for various magazines and websites, and he is a columnist and feature writer for his local paper, the Johnson City Press.

Read an Excerpt

Silver River

Overview: Silver Spring, which feeds the Silver River, has long been a Central Florida tourist attraction. Located east of Ocala, the beautiful Silver River corridor below the springs is part of Silver Springs State Park. River access has been improved with the establishment of the park. Now you can follow the current downstream from the headspring to the Silver River’s confluence with the Ocklawaha, rather than beating your way upstream from the Ocklawaha all the way to the headspring. The Silver River is an Outstanding Florida Water.

Maps: Silver Springs State Park (Florida State Parks); USGS Ocala East, Lynne

Silver Springs State Park to Ray Wayside Access

• Class: I
• Length: 5 mi
• Time: Varies
• Gauge: Phone, online
• Level: Spring fed
• Gradient: 1 fpm
• Scenery: A

Description: The Silver River is where the first glass-bottomed boats were used. And they are still used today to see the array of aquatic life below the water’s surface. I can still remember touring Silver Springs as a kid, looking down on another world. Nowadays, the headspring area and downstream to the Ocklawaha River are a state park. There is a fee-based canoe-and-kayak launch at the park’s main entrance at the headspring, and a free second launch (still requiring a park entrance fee) at the park’s campground entrance that requires a half-mile carry to the put-in. I have done both—pay the launch fee, it is worth it. Canoes and kayaks can be rented at the headspring.

Once on the river, you can enjoy spring water measured at 550 million gallons flowing per day. It is 2.0 river miles from the headspring launch to the carry launch. It is 3.0 more miles downstream to the Ocklawaha River through junglelike banks with waterweeds bordering the steady current. The takeout is downstream on the west bank of the Silver River, at Ray Wayside Park, which is reached via a short canal.

Shuttle: To reach the takeout at Ray Wayside Park from Exit 352 off I-75 in Ocala, drive east on FL 40. After 11.9 miles, bear right on Northeast 28th Lane. In 0.5 mile, reach the takeout before you reach the bridge over the Ocklawaha River. GPS Coordinates: 29.214034, -81.992374

To reach the put-in at Silver Springs State Park, backtrack 3.9 miles west on FL 40 to the park’s main entrance, on your left. Head to the paddlecraft-rental and launch area. GPS Coordinates: 29.213189, -82.055377

Gauge: The spring-fed Silver River is paddleable year-round. Call Silver Springs State Park (352-236-7148) for the latest river conditions, and find real-time water levels and flow rates at waterdata.usgs.gov/fl/nwis/rt. The USGS gauge helpful in determining flow rates for any given day is Silver River near Ocala, Florida.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

Overview Map

River-Locator Map Key

Introduction

Part One: The Western Panhandle

• Perdido River
• Coldwater Creek
• Sweetwater Creek and Juniper Creek
• Blackwater River
• Yellow River
• Shoal River
• Seven Runs
• Choctawhatchee River
• Holmes Creek
• Econfina Creek of Washington and Bay Counties
• Chipola River

Part Two: The Central Panhandle

• Apalachicola River
• Ochlockonee River
• Sopchoppy River
• Graham Creek and East River
• Doyle Creek
• Owl Creek
• River Styx
• New River
• Lost Creek

Part Three: The Big Bend

• Wakulla River
• St. Marks River
• Wacissa River
• Aucilla River
• Econfina River of Taylor County
• Steinhatchee River

Part Four: The Northern Peninsula

• Withlacoochee River (North)
• Suwannee River
• Santa Fe River
• Ichetucknee River
• St. Marys River
• Black Creek
• North Fork Black Creek

Part Five: The Central Peninsula

• Withlacoochee River (South)
• Rainbow River
• Silver River
• Ocklawaha River
• Alexander Springs and Alexander Springs Creek
• Juniper Springs and Juniper Creek
• Salt Springs and Salt Springs Run
• Blue Creek
• Stagger Mud Lake
• St. Johns River and St. Francis Dead River

Part Six: The Central Highlands

• Wekiva River and Rock Springs Run
• Black Water Creek and Lake Norris
• Econlockhatchee River
• Shingle Creek
• Arbuckle Creek
• Peace River
• Fisheating Creek

Part Seven: The Atlantic Coast

• Pellicer Creek
• Bulow Creek
• Tomoka River
• Spruce Creek
• Turkey Creek
• South Prong of the St. Sebastian River
• South Fork of the St. Lucie River
• Loxahatchee River

Part Eight: The Southwest Gulf Coast

• Weeki Wachee River
• Hillsborough River
• Alafia River
• Little Manatee River
• Manatee River
• Myakka River
• Prairie Creek
• Shell Creek
• Caloosahatchee River and Hickey Creek
• Estero River

Part Nine: The Everglades

• Blackwater River at Collier-Seminole State Park
• Everglades National Park and the Wilderness Waterway
• Turner River Canoe Trail
• Nine-Mile Pond Canoe Trail
• Noble Hammock Canoe Trail

Part Ten: Appendixes

• Appendix A: Outfitters
• Appendix B: Safety Code of American Whitewater

Glossary

Index

About the Author