Update 2023-08-27: Pictures: Sullivan Launch to Florida Campsites, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-15.

River scout Shirley Kokidko went to investigate Mystery: Withlacoochee River Distributary 2021-01-01 and came back with these pictures from Friday, January 7, 2022.

Remember: it’s not safe to paddle in there.

Distributary, Swallet, Sinkhole

Chitty Bend East Distributary

The Withlacoochee River was 57.9′ NAVD88 (11.4′) on the Pinetta gauge.

Looking from the Bluff near the Swallet out the Distributary to the Withlacoochee River, 14:08:43

Movie: Withlacoochee River running into Distributary, 14:08:43 (18M), 30.5177330, -83.2385170

Chitty Bend East Swallet

Too much trash, 14:13:27

Swirling, 14:38:44, 30.5171830, -83.2383170

Movie: Distributary into Swallet, 14:38:44 (51M)

Chitty Bend East Sinkhole

Shirley says, “It’s very overgrown. I walked in from the road and circled around, it has an irregular shape with side pools.”

Sink end closest to riverside, 14:59:32, 30.5159500, -83.2383830

Sink closest to the road, 15:02:49

Sink between the previous two pictures, 15:03:15

Shirley added, “There was another dry sink hole right beside this big one, but it’s rough walking around there and I was running out of time.”

Here’s a WWALS playlist of Shirley’s videos.

Maps

These maps are all screenshots from the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

Map: Distributary, Swallet, and Sink

You can see

• Chitty Bend East Distributary leaving the left (East) bank of the Withlacoochee River,
• Chitty Bend East Swallet due east, where’s there’s a bend to the south, and then Chitty Bend East Sinkhole.

Notice Fennel’s Funnel upstream at the power line. That’s according to where Karst Underwater Research says that sinkhole is in the M2 Blue cave system, which also includes the Chitty Bend East Swallet and Sinkhole and some others.

Map: Context with Florida Campsites Ramp and Madison Blue Spring

These left (east) bank features are in Chitty Bend East Tract, Twin Rivers State Forest, off NW 34th Street, Jennings, FL 32052, Hamilton County, accessible from CR 143.

Map: Directions by land

The nearest river access is from Florida Campsites Boat Ramp on NW 4th Street, which is about 1.78 river miles downstream. There are rapids in between at many water levels.

Or the Chitty Bend East Distributary is about 7.03 river miles downstream from Sullivan Launch on CR 150.

It’s much safer to drive in to the Chitty Bend East Tract and walk to the sites.

Map: Nearest river access

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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