Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

Hagan Bridge to Franklinville, Withlacoochee River, 2018-02-11

Join WWALS for a leisurely Sunday 5.7 mile paddle on the Withlacoochee from Hagan Bridge Landing to Franklinville Road Landing, through a very rural region of Lowndes County, Georgia, on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

When: 10 AM, Sunday, February 11, 2018.

Put In: Hagan Bridge Landing, MILE 84.4, 5110 GA Hwy 122 E, Hahira, GA 31632, Lowndes County. 5 miles east of Hahira, GA. Between Hahira and Lakeland. Also known as GA 122 Withlacoochee Access.

GPS: 31.013966, -83.299306

Take Out: Franklinville Road Landing, MILE 78.71, 6560 Franklinville Road, Hahira, GA 31632. Lowndes County. Between Hahira and Moody AFB on dirt Franklinville Road off of Skipper Bridge Road. Do come in from Skipper Bridge Road: Tyler Bridge on Franklinville Road is closed, so you can’t get to the landing there from Cat Creek Road. On the way out we will view the Franklinville Monument, marking the original county seat of Lowndes County.

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.

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Three paddlers, Withlacoochee River, 2014-04-20
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, 2013-04-20.

Continue reading →

Hike to Spook Bridge 2017-11-11

We made it to Spook Bridge from US 84! It was a small group, four of us, on a cold November afternoon. And we saw the sad remains of Wade Spring.

Banner, 13:36:38,, On top

Paddling upstream was not practicable, Continue reading →

Bonus paddle to Spook Bridge on Withlacoochee River, 2017-11-11

After the One Mile Branch Cleanup at VSU, let’s head west on US 84 to the Withlacoochee River and paddle (or hike) downstream to Spook Bridge: if you’ve seen the locally-made movie, come see the bridge! In between we may see the river part of Wade Spring, and we will see the railroad bridge and the old, closed, Blue Springs road bridge, aka Spook Bridge. Then we will paddle (or hike) upstream to the Sabal Trail pipeline crossing, also less than a quarter mile. If you don’t want to do either, we will tell you how to get to Spook Bridge by land to greet us when we get there.

When: 1PM, Saturday, November 11, 2017

Put In: US 84, park between the bridges on the Lowndes County side.
We will climb down the steep rocky embankment between the bridges, seen from the Brooks County side in this picture:

Under US 84 bridge across to Lowndes County
Photo: John S. Quarterman, From Brooks County to Lowndes County, under the US 84 bridge, 85.2 on the Quitman Gauge, May 22, 2017.

Anyone in reasonable shape can climb it.

GPS: 30.793608, -83.451435

Bring: mud boots, plus 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! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup Continue reading →

Barber Pool, early 20th century

Update 2025-09-13: Updated format, fixed typos, and added a map.

[Barber Pool, former spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta GA, E.R. Barber, Coca-Cola, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River]
Barber Pool, former spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta GA, E.R. Barber, Coca-Cola, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River

Floridians worried about springs drying up: it already happened to this one. A sad channel with no flow in Saunders Park once was a large and famous spring-fed pool, remembered by many in Valdosta, Georgia, both those who went there and those who were refused. Continue reading →

WWALS at Brooks County Skillet Festival 2017-10-21

The travelling WWALS booth will be in Quitman, Georgia, this Saturday at the Skillet Festival. We will have buttons and stickers (WWALS, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Water Trails, Water Is Life) and the raffle kayak. If you like, bring a piece of cast iron for WWALS to raffle off, as well.

When: 9AM-3:30 PM, Saturday, October 21, 2017

Where: Brooks County Courthouse, 100 Screven Street, Quitman, Georgia 31643

What: Brooks County Skillet Festival, quilts, cooking, fashion, dogs, clogging, skillet toss, race, and parade

Event: facebook, meetup

WWALS buttons on skillet, Festival

Schedule: Continue reading →

Cleanup and Outing: Nankin Landing to Madison Highway: Withlacoochee River 2017-10-14

Now also a Rivers Alive cleanup in conjunction with Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB). You can clean up, or clean up and paddle! Best to bring a rope for your boat: the Withlacoochee River is low, and there may be a few spots of dragging over shoals.

Through KLVB: Call (229)671-3698 to be assigned to Nankin Landing or another location.

Through WWALS: Come on down to Nankin Boat Ramp 9AM Saturday October 14, 2017!

State Line Shoals

Where: 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County, 30.675192, -83.394143

Details: See Continue reading →

Nankin Landing to Madison Highway: Withlacoochee River 2017-10-14

Back by popular request, 9.1 miles past two of the six second-magnitude springs in Georgia, into and back out of Florida, over numerous shoals, on the tea-colored Withlacoochee River in the fall, all on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

When: 9AM Saturday, October 14, 2017

Put In: Nankin Boat Ramp, MILE 36.3, 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.675192, -83.394143

WWALS banner at McIntyre Spring

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, water, snacks, trash bag, and trash picker: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup! If you do not have a boat, let us know, and probably somebody can loan you one, or contact one of the many outfitters.

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup.

Take Out: Madison Highway Boat Ramp, MILE Continue reading →

Hardee Spring and Plantation, Withlacoochee River, Hamilton County, FL

Yes, Hardee Spring is accessible by land, off of 34th Street NW, Jennings, Florida, aka Hardee Camp Road, but it’s on private land. It’s on one of four parcels totaling 305 acres, with 8,000 feet (1.6 miles) of river frontage and a lodge, which can be yours for a mere $8.5 million. Maybe Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) should buy it, since SRWMD already owns the next properties upstream and downstream on the Withlacoochee River. Or maybe it should be turned into a state park. Or maybe somebody wants to donate it to WWALS for an office location.

Map: River Error Farms Inc., Hardee Spring, Hamilton County, FL
Map from SRWMD PARCEL ASSESSMENT SUMMARY.

Continue reading →

Florida may require licensing of paddle boats and boards

Here’s a bad idea that doesn’t seem to die: making people pay to register non-motorized boats in Florida.

Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 29 January 2017, Florida may require licensing for kayaks, canoes, paddle boards,

USCG Vessel ID Sticker
No registration or permit needed for this U.S. Coast Guard Vessel ID Sticker

A citizens panel assembled by state-boating authorities will meet in Orlando on Wednesday to explore what could become a path to adopting registration and fees for small boats powered by humans, wind and currents.

“That sounds like Continue reading →

Winners, BIG Little River Paddle Race 2017-04-29

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Adel, Georgia, June 4, 2017 — Dwight Griner of Berrien County, Georgia won for the fifth time. A dozen other boats received prizes, as a record number of people paddled in the Fifth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race, April 29, 2017. Tifton and Tift County had the most paddlers, but the awards show more boats from Moultrie and Colquitt County. Lowndes had the second most paddlers, and there were two people each from Cook and from far-away Houston and Harris Counties, and one from Thomas County.

[Dwight Griner winner closeup]
Dwight Griner winner closeup

This year’s BLRPR included three popular new attractions: Continue reading →