Pictures: Alapaha and Dead River Sinks 2016-11-06

A very scenic hike to some of the most unusual geological features in all of Florida: the Alapaha River Sink and the Dead River Sink. We walked over beds of 50-million-year-old fossilized oysters, above all our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer. See many pictures and a few videos of the sights, and a google map of the sites.

Practicing Geologist Dennis Price led us by the scenic route on this hike, explaining the karst geology on display, which underlies all of north Florida and south Georgia, containing our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer. Dennis and hike organizer Chris Mericle recommend making this very unusual area a state park.

The Alapaha River goes underground here unless it has a lot of water, which usually this time of year and right now it does not.

Don’t fall into the Devil’s Den, 30.5855189, -83.0528064

Update 2022-11-17: The Jennings Gauge read 61.70′ NAVD88.

Until recently nobody knew for sure where it comes back up, but this summer Suwannee River Water Management District turned the Dead River flourescent green in a dye test, and the dye came back up a few days later in the Alapaha Rise and in Holton Creek Spring, both on the Suwannee River a bit upstream from the Alapaha Confluence.

The Alapaha River Sink is prominently pictured on the WWALS brochures for the Alapaha River Water Trail.

The better picture of the WWALS banner at the Alapaha Sink (above) and of the Dead River Sink itself (below) are by Gretchen Quarterman from her facebook album.

Videos

You can hear Dennis Price explain it all, and the thunder of the Alapaha River Sink, in these videos.

More pictures below by John S. Quarterman. Click on any small picture to get a bigger picture. And there’s a google map of the locations pictured.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Pictures

These pictures are by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition, except the several marked as by Gretchen Quarterman. Creative Commons attribution license.

JBT

Jennings Bluff Tract, 30.5671901, -83.0389019

JBL

Jennings Bluff Landing, 30.5798842, -83.0392405

Before

Preparing, 30.5798842, -83.0392405

Dennis Price P.G. explaining what we will see, 30.5798969, -83.0393708

Hike

Green Alapaha River; nitrogen? 30.5821472, -83.0417484

Green and dry Alapaha River, 30.5833633, -83.0435942

Down

Gretchen starts down, 30.5845793, -83.0468497

Down to the wash bed, 30.5845793, -83.0468497

Along

Marching along, 30.5845793, -83.0468497

Downwards, 30.5848819, -83.0468896

Climb back up, 30.5848264, -83.0466962

Gretchen catching up, 30.5848264, -83.0466962

Nice palmettos, 30.5847849, -83.0463605

Below

People down at the river, 30.5851047, -83.0464668

Gretchen and Chris inspecting a pine tree, 30.5852269, -83.0464122

About to the riverbed, 30.5854194, -83.0464834

Stump

Nice stump, 30.5853902, -83.0465057

Cut side, 30.5854008, -83.0465111

Sand side, 30.5854008, -83.0465111

Both

Panorama of both sides, 30.5852778, -83.0463889

Explaining

Movie: Dennis Price P.G. explaining (686M), 30.5852778, -83.0463889

Gretchen pictures Dennis explaining, 30.5854580, -83.0465317

Attentive crowd, 30.5854578, -83.0465299

Except for the dog, 30.5854588, -83.0465317

Flowers

Asters, 30.5847931, -83.0485753

River

On up the river, 105821, 30.5847664, -83.0486311

Some following behind, 30.5840571, -83.0489746

Bird

Many tracks, 30.5840571, -83.0489746

Turkey tracks, 30.5840571, -83.0489746

Fish bed with turkey tracks, 30.5840565, -83.0500666

Confluence

Crowd at the Dead River confluence, 30.5840348, -83.0501771

Dead River confluence, 30.5840777, -83.0503014

Lori listening to Dennis at the oyster beds, 30.5840251, -83.0505336

Bret, Deanna, Chris, Dennis, oyster beds, 30.5840251, -83.0505336

Fossilized

50-million-year-old oysters, 30.5839481, -83.0513220

Oysters closeup, 30.5840574, -83.0515484

Camera rainbow, 30.5840476, -83.0514830

Can Denizman, the Potters, and others arrive, 30.5841534, -83.0513453

More fossilized oysters, 30.5841006, -83.0513325

Movie: Newcomers and ontrekkers (31M)

Tree reflections, 30.5841421, -83.0514413

Black rocks, 30.5841421, -83.0514413

Black pebbles, 30.5841385, -83.0514438

Geologists

Two geologists conferring (Dennis and Can), 30.5841235, -83.0515053

On up the Alapaha, 30.5841235, -83.0515053

Some water in the river, 30.5841235, -83.0515053

Deadfall

People crossing deadfall, 30.5841667, -83.0519444

Loud roaring sound, 30.5855110, -83.0523775

ARS

Movie: Deanna and Bret at the Alapaha Sink, 30.5855110, -83.0523775

Movie: Deanna and Bret at the Alapaha Sink (6.4M), 30.5855110, -83.0523775

Alapaha River Sink, 30.5855351, -83.0527751

Movie: Alapaha River Sink over Lori’s shoulder (15M)

flowing into, 30.5855934, -83.0528291

ARS2

the Alapaha River sink, 30.5855189, -83.0528064

Movie: From the sink to the Alapaha River (9.8M), 30.5855189, -83.0528064

Movie: Alapaha River (2.0M), 30.5855934, -83.0528291

Movie: Alapaha River flowing into the sink (25M), 30.5855189, -83.0528064

DD

Movie: Don’t fall in, to the Devil’s Den (47M), 30.5855189, -83.0528064

Don’t fall into the Devil’s Den, 30.5855189, -83.0528064

Johnny and Phil, brave to bring that camera, 30.5855189, -83.0528064

WB

WWALS banner, 30.5852778, -83.0527778

Zoom WWALS banner, 30.5855351, -83.0527000

MB

More below, 30.5855556, -83.0527778

Aquifers

Dennis explaining aquifers, 30.5855545, -83.0529399

DD2

The Devil’s Den, 30.5855545, -83.0529399

BPAS

Movie: Bret, Alapaha Sink, 20161106 112627 (33M), 30.5855545, -83.0529399

Phil, Alapaha Sink, 30.5855009, -83.0528016

Johnny, Alapaha Sink, 30.5855405, -83.0528102

DR

Back down to the Dead River, 30.5844745, -83.0519098

More following along, 30.5844444, -83.0516667

LB

Lunch break at the Dead River, 30.5839646, -83.0511557

28 and at least one already left, 30.5839294, -83.0512648

Beatriz sees Deanna already up the Dead River, 30.5839583, -83.0512969

G2

Stereo geologists, 30.5839546, -83.0513326

D2

Dennis and a rapt lunch crowd, 30.5839493, -83.0513395

Chris agreeing it should be a state park, 30.5838763, -83.0512796

Are you ready to hike? 30.5839497, -83.0513190

UpDR

Over the oyster beds up the Dead River, 30.5839645, -83.0515484

Beatriz seems dubious, 30.5839237, -83.0522376

Over deadfalls, 30.5840228, -83.0524169

Tom goes one way, Can another, 30.5840228, -83.0524169

Something in the water, 30.5839044, -83.0529146

DownDR

Down, 30.5839044, -83.0529146

Up, 30.5838803, -83.0529242

Sideways, 30.5838803, -83.0529242

Pan2

Panorama, 30.5838557, -83.0530662

Drysink

Another sink, 30.5838557, -83.0530662

Dry now, 30.5838389, -83.0530616

More sink viewers climbing, 30.5838348, -83.0530641

FT

Fossil tracks? 30.5838341, -83.0530645

Up the Dead River, 30.5838309, -83.0530673

BR

Can and the black rocks, 30.5838363, -83.0530678

Some go up, some go under, 30.5838363, -83.0530678

Under also required up, 30.5838308, -83.0530742

Somebody up there, 30.5840196, -83.0544586

Another up there, 30.5840103, -83.0544550

WW

Wide with willows, 30.5840287, -83.0544565

Dennis, stick, narrows, 30.5834414, -83.0543713

Water springing up, 30.5826263, -83.0521584

Tea

Tannic tea-colored water, 30.5826263, -83.0521584

Quite a stream, 30.5826263, -83.0521584

Movie: Flowing water in the Dead River (25M), 30.5826263, -83.0521584

Almost there, 30.5823121, -83.0518127

EE

Down from the easy entrance, 30.5823101, -83.0518601

Here we are, 30.5818388, -83.0517782

Dup

Dennis up above, 30.5818388, -83.0517782

Chris climb, Gretchen scratch, 30.5818388, -83.0517782

More above, 30.5818388, -83.0517782

TP

Tom Potter surrounded, 30.5837645, -83.0544796

Dennis came around the sink, 30.5815381, -83.0515448

GQ

Dead River Sink with trash –GQ

Google Map

Follow this link to the google map, and it’s also embedded below.

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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