Florida's Designated Paddling Trails - Very Detailed Site

[Glenn MacGrady]

I just discovered this very detailed and informative guide to all of Florida's official Designated Paddling Trails. There are links, maps, guides, and photos of every trail.

Florida's Designated Paddling Trails | Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Spring-fed rivers, county blueway systems and the 1,515-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail provide exceptional paddling experiences rich in wildlife and scenic beauty.

floridadep.gov

Of course, in Florida there are also a gazillion miles of river, spring, swamp, lake, estuary, and ocean paddling opportunities in addition to these DEP designated trails. No portages, no black flies, no frostbite, no clothes necessary (?!), no bears, no off season, no state income tax.

 

[Alasgun]

Any snakes?

 

[ppine]

Very cool. I always wanted to do a winter canoe trip in Florida but never have. Most of the trips are pretty short but still compelling. You have to like reptiles and radically conservative people. My daughter lives in Tallahassee. I call it Baja Alabama.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

My daughter lives in Tallahassee.

So does mine, but she's moving in a few weeks. She was born there, and I lived there twice.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Any snakes?

Naturally. And some unwanted ones occasionally come in from Burma and California. But the bird life you can see in along rivers in Florida is bountiful, colorful and aboriginal. You can even dive into the spring caves, retrieve underwater mastodon skeletons, and see 12,000 year-old Indian mounds. I'll post a few videos.

 

[JohnSand]

Cool resource, I'll check it out. I've actually been "lost" in the mangroves a couple of times in Florida, but found myself after a little while. I've also encountered alligators. The small ones were scared of me, the large ones weren't.

 

[ppine]

Fifty years ago I rented a small alunimum boat with an outboard with some friends for a trip in the Everglades. The amount of birds was amazing. There were plenty of snakes everywhere. This was before the invasion by Burmese pythons and other non-native species. It was spring and days were kind of short. The last leg of the trip was at dusk. We saw around 50 pairs of red eyes which were alligators. It was dark by the time we returned. This was before alligator populations made a huge comeback in Florida. I never wanted to spend the night out there in the Glades.

 

[Nick Pending]

ppine,

I think it was '97 or '98, winter, our second trip into the 'Glades to explore it for a few days. We rented a Grumman (we'd flown to Orlando)_and spent I think three nights in a loop out of Chocoloskee, the western end of the 100-mile canoe trail there. We camped on a ground site the first night (mosquitoes were terrible) a chickee (wooden platform out over the water and hardly any mosquitoes) the second night, and a beach site the last night. The mosquito density for that was somewhere between the previous two sites. We did see one gator if I remember right. They're not in the brackish or salt water much as a general rule, prefer freshwater. Also that trip, we participated in a ranger-led "swamp walk" out of Flamingo, the west end of the canoe trail, more the southern tip of the park. That was lots of fun. Mostly knee-deep wading, though it occasionally got waist deep. Not sure I'd do that today. Don't know about the canoeing and camping either, though the danger is probably overblown as per most media stories. That was our last Fla trip. I'd have liked to have paddled Okeefenokee, also, but will likely never get there now.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Of the gazillion miles of paddling water in Florida, I personally would not rank the Everglades very high on aesthetics or interest. Not interested in sleeping on chickees. Note also that very little of the designated Florida Canoe Trail system from the map above is in the Everglades. The two videos I posted above are from north Florida.

Here is a seven day canoe camping trip on the Suwanee River, which is also in north Florida:

The Suwanee is about 250 miles long from the Okefenokee Swamp to the Gulf of Mexico, so you could extend a trip much further, and you don't have to camp at the building campsites.

 

[yellowcanoe]

The Everglades is fascinating! One trip is not sufficient. I have never just followed the Wilderness Waterway It is a one note as it does not visit more than two ecosystems ( the Glades has 8). I have gone north of it and also along the Gulf Shore. Done 10 10 day trips and want to do one from the Gulf to Shark Valley ( it is documented if you know the right people but not marked. Lots of prairie paddling)

The downside is the sandflies can be fierce and watch where you sit. I find cacti fascinating. And dolphins and off season common loons.

We will be going in Feb to the Withlacoochee South and also Cedar Key and St Joseph Sound and the Dead Lakes. Heading home via Mosquito Lagoon ( day trips) and the Okefenokee

Most interesting is that the Everglades changes often After Irma things were very changed.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

After Irma things were very changed.

Curious. What, how?

I know you've always been a big Everglades fan, Kim. So is @JoelBeckwith, who guides there.

 

[ppine]

Canoe trails are a mixed blessing. In place like the Everglades or Klamath Lake, OR they help people navigate confusing country and keep from getting lost. They attract attention and bring people from all over. We have some designated water trails in Nevada, like the Carson River Canyon promoted by the City of Carson City. It is way too dangerous for people with little experience. There is no help. It is fast and squeezy. I am surprised we don't have more fatalities. I think the word got out about how dangerous it is. I ran it once in a drift boat during spring flows. Many parts are too narrow for oars. I had paddle assist in the bow. We dragged around several rapids. The boat weighed 275 pounds. We finally punched a hole in it and patched it with duct tape and did a lot of bailing. Never again on the so called water trail.

 

[Erica]

All the trees in Irma’s path were blown over or had all their branches torn off. There is a deficit of shade. Even under a tarp, the temperatures are scathingly hot.

The python population has exploded and being on a chickee will not help. They slide right up those poles. I will not camp there anymore. Insiders say 80% of the mammal population has been eaten by pythons.

Florida has some great canoeing, but it mostly is not on these routes.