Way down upon the Suwannee River

Sept. 3-5 1999

A satin black ribbon threaded through a veil of lace, the Suwannee is visually enchanting. Made famous by song, this historic river is definitely worth singing about. Calm and serene, the still waters restoreth my soul.

There would be four of us on this weekend adventure. Our group would include Trish McMillan from Woodbine, Georgia, Jay Jakubasz from Fernandina Beach, Florida, Bessie Mancill from Jacksonville, and me from Savannah, Georgia. We camped at the Suwannee River State Park, which is nestled beside the Suwannee River. This is a nice campground, and since it is well hidden in North Florida, few people must know of its existence. There were plenty of camping sites open for the weekend. The Withlacoochee River merges into the Suwannee a short distance away. You can paddle both of these uniquely different rivers from the State Park boat ramp.

The name Suwannee is from the American Indian word meaning black muddy water. Maybe it is muddy after a rainstorm, but when we were paddling on low water, it was a clear strawberry color. Another Indian translation for the word Suwannee is echo, which would seem to fit the section I paddled more accurately.

Immortalized in a Stephen Foster song, "Old Folks At Home", the river is known around the world. Paddle wheel boats steamed up and down the river and pioneers lived off this forested land and profited from the mirrored watery darkness. The upper Suwannee River begins in the Okefenokee Swamp and terminates in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our paddle down the Suwannee was close to 13 miles according to Jay's GPS. Along much of its course, there are limestone outcrops lining the steep bluffs on both sides of the river for many miles. Around each gentle curving bend there was a view more magnificent than the last.

As I glided down the ebony black thread, the visual effect created by the Suwannee reminded me of a primordial canyon. A great blue heron, whose shadow danced on the water like an ancient pterodactyl, flew overhead. Time seemed to stand absolutely still. Panoramic views of weathered limestone outcrops, on high bluffs, were interlaced with tree roots that resembled stringy twine. These trees embrace the rock structure and endure encroachment by the rivers path.

The limestone has been pitted by wind, current, and swirling water to create a swiss cheese effect.

Small caves and grottos are sprinkled throughout this fragile ecosystem. These sculpted masterpieces allow springs to meander into the river creating small waterfalls. Occasionally, one side of the river will level out and a large white sandbar will offer a place to eat, rest, or swim. In the shallow sections of the river, if you have a mask, you can see the sandy bottom of the river. The water looks black from the surface, but as you dip your paddle into the water, you realize it is tinted more like a red wine.

We had hoped to see river otters playing along the banks, but much to our chagrin this would not be the case. There were numerous turtles, which I think were red bellied sliders, and we observed a lone white egret dining on a sandbar. A flock of turkeys also shot upward in alarm as we approached one bend in the river. The scenery of the river more than made up for the lack of critters though. I shot a roll of film in just a few hours.

We met an amateur geologist and his son snorkeling in the middle of the river. I had heard there were fossils along this river, but so far they had alluded me. I stopped to chat with the fellow, who was very interesting and willing to share information. He said the rocks in the river were millions of years old. There were fossilized coral heads and underneath the coral heads was a type of chalcedony called flint, that the Indians would chip off to make weapons and tools. He showed me these rocks and you could see the coral polyps on the top and the smooth colored flint below. From this point on, we would all be searching for the ancient fossils each time we stopped along the river.

Soon we would approach a small shoal. This was a fun run and each one of us yahooed all the way through. This was just the right size shoal for our group. Small thrills are good enough especially in 17 foot kayaks.

Near the end of our paddle, we came to Suwannee Springs. In the early 1800's there was a resort hotel said to be one of the finest in the southeast. A railroad ran to the front door of the hotel and ferried guests from the town of New Branford, where they boarded a paddleboat for the journey to the Gulf. Now all that remains is the rock retaining wall that separated the springs from the river.

The water is clear, extremely chilly, and very blue. After paddling in the sun for hours, I decided to jump in to cool myself off. You can bet it will cool you off! The only draw back is the strong smell of the sulfur.

Soon we would reach the second bridge which is where we had decided to take out. We had experienced a marvelous day and were looking forward to returning to camp for appetizers, and Jay's chili.

Later that night, we made a campfire. We sat mesmerized listening to the soft voice of a barred owl as we sipped Jay's home made wine. Can there be a better ending to such a wonderful day?

On Sunday, we decided to try and go up the Withlacoochee River. This river is just a short paddle down the Suwannee to the right from the boat ramp. You leave the cool dark water and then enter a clear spring fed stream. There is a striking contrast in these two rivers.

As we paddled the Withlacoochee, you could see schools of fish swim beneath your boat. Darting kingfishers with their twittering alarms, would be our only companions. We observed numerous springs trickling down the limestone face and into the cool clear river. There was an abundance of periwinkles along the bottom of the river, which I have heard indicates an unpolluted water source.

We paddled about an hour and came to our first shoal. I had read where the Withlacoochee has numerous small shoals and after the ride the day before, we had looked forward to running them again. But this time we were paddling upstream. We had to paddle hard, and for a few minutes it didn't seem like we were making any progress. Finally one by one, each of us made it through the rapid. Another 30 minutes would find us facing a second shoal. This one was larger than the first. Jay tried one side of the river without success. I decided to give the other side of the river a try. Bad idea. My bow was soon stuck on a large rock, and my stern was too. I had removed my skirt earlier and now was sorry I did. Every move I made would send water pouring into my cockpit. Bessie had decided to try and pull me from the stern, but the current was too strong and the rock was too big. Then I decided to try a butt scoot, which did the trick, and I was soon carried downstream. Whew! Maybe in a creek boat you can go up these shoals, but in larger boats, forget about it. We turned around at this point, and vowed to come back and paddle this river again from an upstream location.

Suwannee River S.P. is a clean facility and well worth visiting. I saw a variety of song birds, raccoons, and listened to the soft hooting of several species of owls. Primarily a pine and oak forest with dogwoods and other deciduous trees growing in the forest as well. There was also an abundance of brightly colored wildflowers scattered along the forest margins.

The park ranger was very helpful and gave us information and several maps of the area.

Put in: As you leave the campground you turn immediately to the left on S.R.132. Then turn right on U.S.129 S. Turn left on S.R.136A and then turn down a dirt road which is 43rd Street, just before Pine Grove Church. It is a steep sandy bank, but we didn't have any trouble putting in.

Take out: Go down U.S.129 N and turn left at the bridge. We took out from under this bridge. This is a very steep dirt bank, and I would recommend that you paddle a mile further downstream to a canoe ramp. I didn't have a chance to check this ramp out, but I am sure it would be better than where we took out.

~Debbie Wells~

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