Tag Archives: Shirley Kokidko

Statenville to Sasser Landing, Alapaha River 2026-06-13

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We’ll paddle through a couple of shoals, known as Jennings Defeat: have a tow rope on your boat. There are a few small waterfalls along this stretch from Georgia into Florida.

The takeout is near the confluence of the Alapahoochee & Alapaha Rivers so you have the opportunity to paddle up to Turkett Creek Waterfall before leaving. It’s a real treat!

This 10.36 mile paddle is not recommended for beginners due to deadfall in the river to weave through and lack of level ground to get out of your kayak; there are high banks along this section.

Beware that the last time we did this stretch as a WWALS outing, two people ended up getting married.

When: Gather 8:30 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2:30 PM, Saturday, June 13, 2026

Put In: Statenville Boat Ramp, 206 GA 94 West, Statenville, GA 31648, right bank, west of river, north of highway bridge, in Echols County.

GPS: 30.704437, -83.03468

[Statenville to Sasser Landing, Alapaha River 2026-06-13, Jennings Defeat Shoals, Turket Creek Waterfall]
Statenville to Sasser Landing, Alapaha River 2026-06-13, Jennings Defeat Shoals, Turket Creek Waterfall

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Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp, 2026-04-18

Tupelo trees are blooming in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge so let’s paddle the tupelo lined Suwannee River from the Sill to Griffis Fish Camp.

The river is very low and slow so we’ll take our time on this beautiful wilderness trail. There could be some dragging where the water is too low but there should be enough water to float our boats.

Honey bees are very attracted to the blooms, anybody with bee allergies need to be aware.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, April 18, 2026

Put In: Suwannee River Sill Ramp, From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to GA 177; turn left and travel towards Stephen C. Foster State Park. Go 11.2 miles and turn left on Suwannee River Sill.

GPS: 30.803978,, -82.418692

[Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable]
Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable

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Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River, Gaskins Forest Education Center, 2025-04-12

A Day in the Woods is always fun, at Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC) near Alapaha, Georgia.

Coming up again April 11, 2026.

Here are some pictures from 2025.

[Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers]
Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers

Thanks to WWALS volunteers Gretchen Quarterman, Shirley Kokidko, and Cindy Vedas for helping at the WWALS Booth.

Thanks to Heather Brasell for holding this event at GFEC.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

Agenda: Demolish the Stephen C. Foster State Park Suwannee River Visitor Center, Clinch County –GA-DNR Board 2026-01-30

Update 2026-01-28: Amended Agenda: Removed Suwannee River Visitor Center @ GA-DNR Board of Natural Resources 2026-01-30.

Update 2026-01-28: Packet: Suwannee River Visitor Center unfit for public use or rehabilitation @ DNR Board of Natural Resources 2026-01-30.

This is on the agenda for GA-DNR’s Board meeting this Friday:

b) Requesting approval via Executive Order to demolish the Stephen C. Foster State Park Suwannee River Visitor Center, Clinch County.

[Agenda: Demolish the Stephen C. Foster State Park Suwannee River Visitor Center --GA-DNR Board 2026-01-30]
Agenda: Demolish the Stephen C. Foster State Park Suwannee River Visitor Center –GA-DNR Board 2026-01-30

That’s the big building on stilts above Fargo Boat Ramp. Fargo is the second public paddling stop downstream from the Okefenokee Swamp, and the last stop in Georgia before 19 Suwannee River miles to Roline Ramp in Florida.

The Suwannee River Visitor Center was opened in 2004, after $2 million investment. This was before the Eco-Lodge, inland up US 441.

https://wwals.net/?p=60538

Unfortunately, it didn’t get many visitors. Maybe 5 or 6 a week, not counting local fishermen who came in to use the bathroom.

It closed in 2011, due to budgeting concerns. Attempts to get an outfitter to run it, or to move Fargo City Hall into it, did not work.

https://wwals.net/?p=60567

A year or so ago there was a rumor that private deep pockets had been found to fix it up. But the bats and guano in the building apparently would cost too much to fix.

So this Friday the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Board will vote to demolish the Suwannee River Visitors Center.

https://gadnr.org/sites/default/files/dnr/pdf/AMENDED%20AGENDA_0.pdf

Here it is in a low-water video by WWALS member Shirley Kokidko that has gotten more than 400,000 views on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1946665392780126 Continue reading →

Pictures: First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

Our first paddle of 2026 was during the day on beautiful Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA, on New Years Day.

A hardy band of five paddlers, some very experienced, some very novice, paddled into the eastern sun glare, then west to the bat tree. We saw Sand Hill Cranes and an osprey nest, but no bats.

[First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree]
First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree

Here are some video clips:

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/867635092790046/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTNpYodiJhP/

https://youtu.be/glaea7oHi9g

This was Shirley Kokidko’s experiment in a day paddle on Banks Lake. This is the third time we’ve done this, after 2023-09-04, when I found this bat tree, and 2025-08-23.

Plus the outboard birding 2025-12-04, in which the birders noticed feathers falling from a nest in the bat tree.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

Happy New Year! Join us for our first paddle of 2026 on beautiful Banks Lake. We’ll paddle the perimeter of the lake, which is approximately 4 miles around. Once we launch there will be no place to get out of your kayak until we return to the boat ramp. Dress accordingly for the weather, we will cancel if it’s raining.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10 AM, end 12 PM, Thursday, January 1, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[First Day Paddle at Banks Lake, Happy New Year, January 1, 2026]
First Day Paddle at Banks Lake, Happy New Year, January 1, 2026

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Suwannee River Sill and Mixons Hammock –Shirley Kokidko 2025-11-26

Here’s what the second and third gates in the Suwannee River Sill looked like a week after Shirley Kokidko’s Low water at the first gate, Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp 2025-11-20. Plus a gator ambling down to the river, and Mixon’s Hammock, upstream towards Stephen C. Foster State Park.

[Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp --Shirley Kokidko, Alligator, Second and Third Gates, and Mixons Hammock 2025-11-26]
Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp –Shirley Kokidko, Alligator, Second and Third Gates, and Mixons Hammock 2025-11-26

Here are a few videos:

Remember, despite the Florida myth, the gates in the Suwannee River Sill are always open, since about 2001.

The third gate isn’t even a gate: it’s just a breach in that 4.5-mile earthen dam, so the North Fork of the Suwannee River can get through. The Sill was meant to keep water levels up in the Swamp to prevent wildfires, but it did not succeed. Also, it turns out wildfires are necessary for the Swamp’s vegetation to regenerate itself. So after a study starting in 1998 and a two-year trial period, the gates have always been open.

The current low water in the Swamp and in the Suwannee River is because we’re in a drought.

It rained a bit the last day or so, and more is predicted. But so far that has made almost no difference in the level of the Suwannee River at Fargo, GA.

Other rivers in the Suwannee River Basin also show almost no change. See Current River and Lake Levels by Florida’s Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).
http://www.mysuwanneeriver.org/realtime/river-levels.php

There is a gauge at the Sill, but Continue reading →

Low water at the first gate, Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp 2025-11-20

Looks like you could paddle through the Suwannee River Sill, but it’s not clear how far you would get through the Narrows below Stephen C. Foster State Park Ramp before you got to the Sill.

[Low water, first gate, Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp, Thursday, November 20, 2025]
Low water, first gate, Suwannee River Sill, Okefenokee Swamp, Thursday, November 20, 2025

Yesterday Shirley Kokidko checked on water levels in the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp. She says there is enough water to paddle to Billys Island or Minnies Lake.

Until we get some rain to break this drought, paddling from SCFSP to Griffis Fish Camp will be doubtful.

Here is a video Shirley sent from the First Gate at the Suwannee River Sill, the 4.5-mile-long earthen dam that was supposed to keep water levels up in the Okefenokee Swamp to prevent fires, but did not work.

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/854041060433085

https://youtu.be/xrNMTGZtws0 Continue reading →

Paddle to explore Big Shoals, Suwannee River 2025-11-05

The Suwannee River is low and shoals are exposed so lets go exploring. We’ll launch from the steps at Big Shoals Tract Launch and paddle one mile to the portage. Then we’ll walk out to the shoals and enjoy the unusual view of shoals that are usually covered with rushing water. This could be the prettiest lunch spot you’ve ever had.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Put In: Big Shoals Tract Launch From White Springs, travel north on CR 135 to SE 94 Street (Godwin Bridge Road); turn right and follow road to Big Shoals, in Hamilton County, Florida.

GPS: 30.3529705, -82.6879375

[Explore Big Shoals, Suwannee River, Day Paddle, 2025-11-05]
Explore Big Shoals, Suwannee River, Day Paddle, 2025-11-05

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Pictures: Georgia Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up, Alapaha River, Mayday Landing, 2025-09-20

Participants got a Georgia Rivers Alive t-shirt for helping clean up this sand-slope party spot on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman to organizing, and to Shirley Kokidko and an anonymous for picking up trash along with Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

This was at Mayday Landing, 749 Howell Road, Stockton, GA 31649. left bank, east side of the Alapaha River, south of Howell Road, north of the railroad bridge, in Echols County. GPS: 30.82827, -83.017179

[Georgia Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up 2025-09-20, Alapaha River, Mayday Landing]
Georgia Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up 2025-09-20, Alapaha River, Mayday Landing

We collected several hundred pounds of trash. Continue reading →