The Ocklawaha river forest, dominated by cypress, tupelo, ash, red maples and sabal palms, is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species.
This river is about 1 hour southeast of Gainesville. The cost is $50 per person. ($39 for "wanna go" members). With your own boat it's $40 per person. ($29 for members).There's also an additional park fee of $2 per vehicle.
Calendar of Tour dates: www.adventureoutpost.net
Calendar of Tour dates: www.adventureoutpost.net
Description
This trip begins with a brief, fifteen minute float down Silver River to it's confluence with the Ocklawaha. Here, as Silver River's swift, clear water blends with the warm, tannin stained waters of the Ocklawaha, the significance of the huge spring run to the greater Ocklawaha system is apparent. The change is abrupt. On hot summer days, you can hang your hands off each side of your boat and feel water that's almost too warm for a comfortable swim on one side and too cold on the other.
Having picked up the huge flow from Silver river, the rejuvenated Ocklawaha continues its northerly courses at about 2 - 3 mph. The spring water adds a bit of clarity, but there's still plenty of brown tannins in the mix. This scenic stretch of the Ocklawaha is flanked on both sides by a dense river swamp of tupelo, cypress, ash, maples, and sabal palms. Occasionally, the low, shaded bottomland rises abruptly to form high, sloping bluffs, some topping out at about 60 ft. After 2 - 2.5 hours paddling, we'll stop for lunch at one of the bluffs. From there, another couple of hours will bring us to our take-out spot at Gore's Landing.
History
Perhaps the earliest historic accounts of swimming in these waters are not of a person, but of a dog. When the explorer Hernando De Soto came here in 1539, this region was the domain of Acuera Indians. While searching the area for Indian food stores to plunder, the Spaniards came to the Ocklawaha. On the opposite bank they saw Acuera warriors, who made it clear the soldiers weren't welcome. De Soto didn't take the hint. Unable to cross the river under a persistent hail of arrows, he decided to sic his dog on the Indians. By the time he reached the far bank, the huge mastiff was reportedly riddled with nearly 50 arrows. He crawled out of the river and died at the Indians feet. This time De Soto got the message and rode off to meet his fate on the shores of another southern river (but that's another story).
A century later, the Acuera were still firmly entrenched and actively shunned the outside world. One chief went so far as to put a bounty on the head of any Spaniard who came into his domain. This tactic worked so well that no one even knew this tribe existed until one of their warriors, accused of murder, was captured in the woods near the La Chua ranch and revealed the tribes existence in court.
In 1814, American patriots also chose this remote area to avoid detection when they built fort Mitchell in the heart of Spanish Florida. The plan was to claim Florida as their own and then hand it over to the U.S. government. Unfortunately for the "patriots", U.S. leaders wanted nothing to do with the scheme. Before long, the Seminoles found the fort, killed a number of the men and sent the rest packing. Later in the same century, local secessionists secretly trained at the abandoned fort site, in preparation for coming Civil War. After the war, it was the Ku Klux Clan who used the isolated site for their ceremonies.
By the time Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings started spending time here in the 1930's, moonshining was the mainstay of the local Scrub economy. The high demand brought on by prohibition coupled with the need for seclusion to operate the illegal stills, made moonshining the perfect occupation for the Forest folk. Today, there are still many families living in remote corners of the Scrub, and most have plenty of first-hand tales of 'shinin'.
Highlights
The Ocklawaha river forest, dominated by cypress, tupelo, ash, red maples and sabal palms, is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species. One critter who doesn't inhabit these swamps are humans. Too low and prone to flood for permanent settlement, the only people found here are those, like us, who are just passing through. The only time we see signs of civilization is when the river flows close to the high bluffs on the swamp's east side.
Difficulty This is easy flowing water with few (if any) obstacles. And it's all downstream. Novices will not have a problem. The main consideration is your endurance. For some, 3.5 - 4.5 hours of paddling (depending on your speed) can be tiring. As many of you already know, we encourage paddlers to take their time to enjoy the experience.
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