Update 2022-07-15: Withlacoochee River OK, Cat Creek bad 2022-07-14.
According to ten WWALS Thursday test sites on five rivers, and Madison Health lifting their Withlacoochee River Health Advisory, five rivers tested clean Thursday.
There was substantial rain yesterday, but since previous rains probably washed off the worst stuff, most likely there won’t be much effect on the rivers.
Happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!
The most recent Valdosta data Continue reading
The Third Edition of Canoeing and Kayaking Georgia. is finally out, after perhaps-perfectionist Suzanne Welander worked on it seemingly forever, and it is worth the wait.
It is even more thorough than previous editions, with some new put-ins added Continue reading
Update 2023-01-26: Pictures: Many deadfalls, shark teeth, and rapids: Alapachoochee Adventure 2022-07-09.
A rugged adventure on a 3-mile obstacle course, not for beginners.
There is plenty of deadfall to pull over, under, and around, but this narrow stretche of the Alapahoochee River is knee-to-hip deep so getting in and out of boats isn’t difficult. Each boat needs a rope. There are 2 sets of low rapids that will require a rope to lower your kayak down. The water is too low to paddle through. Wear sturdy shoes for climbing through wet rocks. Bring your lightest and shortest boat.
You will be rewarded with beautiful scenery, a chance to find shark’s teeth in a side creek, paddle under one of the oldest surviving truss bridges in Florida, scramble down rapids, and cool off with a swim at Turket Falls.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, July 9, 2022
Put In: GA 135 Alapahoochee Landing. North side of road, left bank, 3/4 mile upstream of the GA-FL line and west of Pear Tree Lane, between Jennings and Statenville, in Echols County, Georgia.
GPS: 30.62845, -83.0893
Take Out: Sasser Landing on the Alapaha River.
Bring: short boat, rope, sturdy shoes, and the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members.
You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
![[Photo: Shirley Kokidko, Devil Shoal, 2022:06:23 12:29:43, 30.6106917, -83.0754861]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-09--alapahoochee-adventure/1190F394-09C7-4B5F-AEA2-8DABCE45C5B9.jpg)
Photo: Shirley Kokidko, Devil Shoal, 2022:06:23 12:29:43, 30.6106917, -83.0754861
Update 2022-07-01: Bad Water Quality, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-30.
Update 2022-06-25: Plus Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers also clean, thanks to Pam Thomas and the TREPO crew.
Not good at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River: 1,333 cfu/100 mL E. coli, above the alert level of 1,000. That was a Thursday sample, so watch out downstream. This is puzzling, since there has been no rain to speak of. Also, no sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the Suwannee River Basin. Yet chances are something came down Okapilco Creek from Brooks County, Georgia. Sure, it could have been wild hogs directly on the river, but that’s less likely. Maybe there was more rain in Brooks County than the stations we use reported. Or maybe there was a sewage spill that has not yet been reported.
Everywhere else tested by WWALS Thursday was good: Little, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers.
The most recent Valdosta downstream results were for Monday, and was clean. The most recent Valdosta upstream were for Friday (apparently Valdosta city staff took Monday off for the new Juneteenth holiday), and were also clean, after the high GA 133 results last week.
So I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River from Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on down this weekend. Elsewhere looks good for boating, swimming, and fishing.
Thundershowers are expected this weekend, so conditions could change rapidly.
Thanks to Continue reading
Update 2022-10-02: Directions: Sasser Landing and Jennings Bluff, Alapaha River 2022-10-02.
Rescheduled a day later, to Sunday, October 2, 2022. Yes, probably the fastest reschedule ever. Turns out that Saturday is the Hahira Honeybee Parade, and we don’t want to disappoint 25,000 of our closest friends. So Sunday, October 2nd it is for the Alapaha River paddle and Dead River Sink hike.
A two-hour paddle down the Alapaha River, and a two-hour hike roundtrip up the Dead River to the Dead River Sink and back, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price. If the Alapaha is low enough, we will also see two sinks in that river just before the Dead River Confluence.
There is nothing else quite like this in Florida (or Georgia). Dennis Price for years has been recommending a state park here, at these jewels of the Alapaha River Water Trail. Hamilton County is making a county park nearby on land it owns.
The Dead River itself is a distributary: the Alapaha River runs into it, down into the Dead River Sink, and does not come back up for twenty miles and three days until the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River.
![[Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-01-27--hike-dead-river-sink/20180127_131130.jpg)
Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756, 2018-01-27.
Update 2022-06-20: Rescheduled a day later, to Sunday, October 2, 2022. Yes, probably the fastest reschedule ever. Turns out that Saturday is the Hahira Honeybee Parade, and we don’t want to disappoint 25,000 of our closest friends. So Sunday, October 2nd it is for the Alapaha River paddle and Dead River Sink hike.
A two-hour paddle down the Alapaha River, and a two-hour hike roundtrip up the Dead River to the Dead River Sink and back, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price. If the Alapaha is low enough, we will also see two sinks in that river just before the Dead River Confluence.
There is nothing else quite like this in Florida (or Georgia). Dennis Price for years has been recommending a state park here, at these jewels of the Alapaha River Water Trail. Hamilton County is making a county park nearby on land it owns.
The Dead River itself is a distributary: the Alapaha River runs into it, down into the Dead River Sink, and does not come back up for twenty miles and three days until the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River.
You can also paddle to the Rise on August 13, 2022.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, October 1, Sunday, October 2, 2022
Put In: Sasser Landing. Left bank, east of river, north of CR 150. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river.
Take Out: Jennings Bluff Landing. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel south on US 41 to NW 25 Lane; turn left; travel east to NW 82 Court and the entrance into the SRWMD Jennings Bluff tract; turn left and follow road to canoe launch.
Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup. For the hike, boots and long pants: stickers and ticks.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members.
You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756, 2018-01-27.
Update 2022-06-24: Bad Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-23.
All WWALS Thursday samples tested clean. But Valdosta got very bad Wednesday results for US 41 and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River. Maybe that has gotten diluted by now. But I’d avoid US 41, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, and downstream on the Withlacoochee from Troupville Boat Ramp for this weekend.
Elsewhere, happy boating, swimming, and fishing, so far as we can tell.
For example, come up to Reed Bingham State Park tomorrow (Saturday) for Juneteenth, where WWALS will be getting children (and adults) into boats, some for their first time.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-06-16]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-16--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-06-16
What happened at US 41 and GA 133? Continue reading
2022-06-17: WWALS Thursday tests clean, but Valdosta bad Wednesday results for US 41 and GA 122, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-16.
All tested clean: Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers, for Thursday. Sure, those were only a few test sites on each river. But there’s been little rain, none predicted, and no sewage spills reported. So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.
Thanks to Continue reading
Update 2022-06-11: Five Rivers Clean 2022-06-09.
Seventh week: all rivers clean! Happy swimming, fishing, and boating in the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.
For example, tomorrow morning, Florida Campsites to Allen Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-04.
Of course, there can be undetected local water quality problems (see below). But all the WWALS sites tested Thursday got clean results. While there is a prediction of rain today and tomorrow, if it’s like what we’ve been seeing, it will be light and won’t wash much contamination into the river. No sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the past week. So have a good weekend.
The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and Wednesday of last week downstream. Those were all clean, too.
But earlier contamination was detected in Valdosta results. Continue reading
Update 2024-06-22: Grassy Pond still closed and some other updates.
Update 2022-08-08: Couple more short paddle ideas: State Line Boat Ramp upstream to Arnold Springs, and Florida Campsites upstream.
Update 2022-05-30: Three more short paddle ideas (on the Withlacoochee River and the Alapahoochee River), along with safety information and links to the WWALS water trails with more information.
We often get questions like this: “The wife and I just got our kayaks and we’re looking for some ideas for short trips.”
Here are some suggestions on lakes, swamps, and rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.
Safety first! Always wear your personal flotation device (PFD).
You’d be surprised how hard it is to find your PFD after you fall in.
And especially if you’re new to paddling, don’t go alone.
You may want to join some of the many WWALS outings. See:
https://wwals.net/outings/
![[Ideas for Short Paddles, Suwannee River Basin]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-30--short-trips/fbmany.jpg)
Ideas for Short Paddles, Suwannee River Basin
See also:
How far from one Boat Ramp to the next landing? WWALS Water Trails
https://wwals.net/?p=52193
Easy paddles with no current, no worries about water levels, and no need for a shuttle: put in and take out at the same spot.
But no matter how easy lakes are to paddle, wear your PFD.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-07--wq/many.jpg)
![[Cover and inside]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-30--welander-book/many.jpg)
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-23--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-09--wq/many.jpg)