Multi-day Paddling Trips in Florida

[duNord]

I'm contemplating spending a month or so paddling in Florida. My exact dates are flexible, but I'm thinking of sometime in the period from late November to mid-January.

I've paddles several streams in the panhandle and areas N and W of Tampa/Orlando on 4 previous trips to Florida, but other than a 3-day trip on the Suwannee I've just done day trips. This time I'll be traveling solo, so I don't really want to run a shuttle everyday, so I'm looking for suggestions for longer paddling trips. I'm also open to going elsewhere in the southern US that may be suitable for paddling in winter. Smaller, more intimate streams are preferred as I don't want to be dodging powerboats/jet ski traffic if I can avoid it.

I'm open to paying a reasonable amount for shuttles, but I'll be traveling with a small 200cc motorcycle carried on a hitch-mounted rack on my truck, so I can run my own shuttle(s) if necessary.

I've been thinking about doing the Suwannee and the Everglades, but I'm very open to other suggestions as well.

Re: Suwannee
I've paddled the 40+ mile stretch from Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park to Suwannee River State Park before. I'd be interested in paddling a much longer stretch. Kayak_Ken's post from 11/7/2020 says that 200cfs (on the Fargo gage) is a bare minimum for the Fargo, GA to White Spring stretch. But how far downstream can I go before there's too much development and/or power boat/jet ski traffic to make for a pleasant trip? The Florida State Parks website says the Holton Creek and Dowling Park River camps are closed due to damage from Hurricane Debby in August. But Florida has had at least 2 major hurricanes since then. Is the Suwannee area just a wasteland now?

Re: Everglades
What maps/charts do you guys use when paddling in the Everglades? Is the Nat Geo Trails Illustrated map of Everglades National Park detailed enough for navigation? I'm a little leery of doing the entire Wilderness Waterway in one shot in case a hurricane/tropical storm crops up, so I'm instead thinking of doing a loop trip at the northern end and another loop trip at the southern end, so that I can get to safety quicker if necessary. I know hurricane season theoretically ends November 30th, but with all the crazy weather we've been having, who really knows. I will have a Garmin InReach with me, so I will be able to get weather forecasts. Also, loop trips are appealing do the expense of paying for the lengthy shuttle from Everglades City to Flamingo (for a solo paddler) or the time it would take to do my own shuttle using a 200cc motorcycle. Do you have any suggested multi-day loop trips in the Everglades?

A little bit more about me:
I've logged thousands of miles on extended river trips in the barren grounds and boreal forests of Alaska and Canada and the US Midwest and desert SW, so I'm a fairly experienced wilderness tripper and competent paddler. However, the vast majority of my experience has been in northerly climes. I'm still a novice when it comes to dealing with dangerous/scary things in Florida such as hurricanes/tropical storms, snakes, alligators/crocodiles, insects, etc. So any advice you could give me regarding precautions I should take in this regard would be welcome as well.

 

[ppine]

I always wanted to do a winter trip on the Crystal River but did not get that one accomplished.
I have been in the Everglades once in a boat. There are some marked water trails around, but getting lost would be my main concern. It all looks the same. Even 50 years ago there were alligators everywhere. Now it is much worse and they are joined by large introduced serpents. Finding some dry ground can be a serious challenge. I do not like the idea of sleeping a canoe or searching for a wooden platform in the dark. The Everglades are very interesting in the daytime. The night time is intimidating. A lot of the bird species and small mammals are gone due to the presence of all of those pythons and boas. I hope I am out of date.

 

[Gamma1214]

We haven't heard from @yellowcanoe for awhile but I believe she's done several trips in the Everglades. @Erica did the Suwannee a few years ago. Either may be able to help.

Also, check this thread. Seemed to be lots of detail in it.

 

[paddler123]

For the Everglades, I suggest you download the .kmz file from the NPS at the website below. It includes the paddling routes, campsites and chickees, and other relevant information. In addition to the official Wilderness Waterway (which is open to motorboats), there's also the "Everglades Paddling Trail" that parallels it (and in some places coincides with it), so you could make a loop by going one way on the Wilderness Waterway and the other way on the Paddling Trail. I haven't done overnight trips, but I've done a few day trips on either end.

Maps and Navigation - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

 

[Alan Gage]

The replies on the Rio Grande were split off to their own thread:

Lower canyons of the Rio Grande

I'm also open to going elsewhere in the southern US that may be suitable for paddling in winter. Smaller, more intimate streams are preferred as I don't want to be dodging powerboats/jet ski traffic if I can avoid it. I've always thought the lower canyons of the Rio Grande looked interesting...

www.canoetripping.net