A Week in the “Big Bend” of Florida
Saturday, Feb. 21st - Saturday, Feb. 28th, 2009

Destination: Where we are headed for in Florida is the area south Tallahassee but near the Gulf of Mexico. This “big bend” region is where the panhandle’s southern coastline turns and becomes the west side of the peninsula of Florida. In this area there is a wide variety of public lands, a national forest and wildlife refuge, and lands owned by timber companies that are open to the public. Running through these lands is the Florida Trail. 

Intent of this week: Each day we will venture out to a different destination and different outdoor adventure. On two scouting trips and during the 2007 and 2008 weeks of paddling during Mardi Gras, I have been extremely impressed with how much there is to do in the outdoors and the variety of outdoor activities.

During our six days in the big bend area, we will have to make choices since there are far more options of outdoor destinations than we will have time to do.

Wacissa River: Fed by twelve first magnitude springs, the water is crystal clear. The stream banks are densely forested with limited access. The upper segment is broad with a narrow paddling channel and then elsewhere filled with vegetation.  Within the first half mile there is a tributary that extends back to Blue Spring – a major basin that appears blue in its lower depths. In past years, we have paddled downstream for approximately three miles to the eagle’s nest and then turned around and paddled back up against a very light current to the launch site. The middle section features canopied channels that flow around forested island and past banks of hardwoods. It is possible to easily paddle upstream through the islands and then float back with the current. The lower section flows through a hardwood bottomland swamp via a meandering canal that was dug in the 1810s. By very carefully turning in the correct direction at the correct location, paddlers eventually emerge where the Wacissa flows into the Aucilla River. We may choose to paddle the upper, middle or lower segments each section having its own appeals.

Aucilla River: Located only a few miles east of the Wacissa, this stream is a complete contrast to the spring fed streams. The Aucilla begins in Georgia with a watershed composed of piney forests.  The result is that the water is very dark with a respectable current. The banks are high sometimes composed of limestone with upland woods and then further downstream more tropical looking palms and palmettos. Some of the palms extend out horizontally over the water and then bend upward towards the sun. Depending on the water level, there may be several sets of shoals. At about the two thirds point, paddlers encounter one major set of rapids where the stream flows though a boulder field of limestone. Again depending on water level, we may run the rapids carefully or walk the canoes through the rocks. Just a few minutes of paddling time below our takeout the river just “ends” into a cliff of limestone. Without a swirl and marked only by driftwood, the river disappears into the rock face. We will walk or paddle downstream to view this unusual phenomenon. 

Wakulla River: Originates in what may be the largest springs in Florida at the Wakulla Springs State Park. The result is a broad and shallow stream with extraordinarily clear water. On the scouting trip, we saw hundreds of fish, turtles and small alligators below us as we paddled along.  We will mostly likely begin the day at the state park by taking one of their hour long boat tours. The viewing of birds, reptiles and possibly manatees is up close as the wildlife is use to the boats and only reluctantly move out of its way. 

Our paddling party will launch at the upper bridge in late morning so that we have an overhead sun. This gives us optimum viewing of the fish and aquatic scenery. The paddling will continue downstream for six miles to the historic city of St. Marks and its fort built by the Spanish a century before the English arrived in New England. Dinner that night will be at a seafood restaurant which we can paddle to and then dine at while watching the sunset. 

Sopchoppy Creek:  Flowing out of a forested “bay”, the water is root beer or cinnamon colored but carries no silt. The creek has very high banks, an extremely meandering course and a few swift spots. Along the banks and in the stream are numerous cypress trees with exposed and entwined root systems. These bizarre natural creations have torso sized roots and “fences” of waist high cypress knees. One left turning bend has twelve cypresses lined up as if sentries on the alert for oncoming paddlers.  Giant cypresses pocked with woodpeckers nesting holes are scattered along the route. Dinner that night will be at a “bistro” in the historic city of Sopchoppy.

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge: We will not paddle in St Marks but hike on several of the trails available.  Many of the trails are on top of levees that surround freshwater impoundments.  There can be considerable bird and reptile life visible to the hiker. One levee/trail which is also a segment of the Florida Trail has salt marsh on one side and a freshwater impoundment on the other side. On the scouting trip in January, we saw eagles, hawks, owls, sandhill cranes plus an assortment of wading birds and numerous shore birds.

Florida Trail: Meandering through or along or over all of these streams, national forest and wildlife refuges is the Florida Trail. Extremely varied in terrain, vegetation and scenery, we may hike a portion that parallels the Aucilla River where the entire river disappears into a limestone cliff and then reemerges in sinkholes alongside the trail.

A day of sightseeing on barrier islands and at points that jut out into the Gulf. We may take a day off from paddling and hiking on forested trails to go beachcombing on the beaches of barrier islands that face the Gulf of Mexico.

Base Camp: We will base camp at Newport Campgrounds (a facility of Wakulla County Recreation Department.  Located across highway US 98 from the entrance to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, the campgrounds features hot showers and flush toilets. We will tent camp for all seven nights in a section set aside for tent camping.  

Driving times and routes: The distance from New Orleans to Newport Park Campgrounds is about 450 miles – 412 on I 10 to the west side of Tallahassee and then another 40 miles to the park.  One should plan on about seven to eight hours of driving. 

The intent is that participants leave New Orleans early Saturday morning, February 21st, and arrive at Newport by late afternoon. 

On the second Saturday, February 28th, we will break camp and then choose an outing that is to the west of the state park. Upon completing that outing in early afternoon, the week of outings will be officially over. Everyone can start back to New Orleans choosing either to drive half way back and then stop for the evening or drive all the way back to New Orleans to arrive very late Saturday night.

Our destination each day will be determined by our curiosity, the weather, winds, tides and preferences of the group.  For all of us, these spring fed rivers, dark colored creeks, blue tinged springs and limestone sinkholes will be new outdoor scenes that can not be duplicated in our outdoor part of the world. I hope you will join me in this week of exploring the “big bend” of Florida.