Tag: <span>Florida Kayaking</span>

Buckman Lock

BGA at the Buckman LockThe Buckman Lock was constructed in the mid to late 1960s as a part of the Florida Cross Barge Canal project. The project’s goal was to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico with a canal across Florida. It didn’t go well. The on-again off-again project was first conceived by King Phillip II of Spain in 1537! Throughout centuries, the project was started and stopped and in the end, it was Marjorie Harris Carr who helped bring about the official cancellation of the project in 1990.

Weeki Wachee River

The Weeki Wachee RiverThe Weeki Wachee River, located in Hernando County in the town of Weeki Wachee. It is a 12-mile long river, flowing in a westerly direction from Weeki Wachee to the Gulf of Mexico. The source is the deepest naturally occurring, first magnitude spring in the United States, discharging from 112 to 150 million gallons of water a day…James

Smokehouse Prairie

The Smokehouse PrairieThe Smokehouse Prairie is a wetland located approximately 6 miles southeast of Hawthorne, Fl and 5 miles Northwest of Orange Springs, Fl. This wetland area is well over 400 acres and is a main source of water for Gillis Pond and Lake Fanny which are on the East side of the wetland…James

Cross Creek

Cross Creek Topo MapCross Creek became well known due to the writings of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Moving to Cross Creek in 1928, Rawlings wrote stories that exposed her fondness of rural life at ‘The Creek’ often including characters based on her relationships with her neighbors. Her most famous book was the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling, published in 1938....James

Lake Disston – Full Moon Paddle

Lake Disston Cypress ShorelineLake Disston is a popular fishing lake hosting largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, bream, and shell crackers. There is a major rookery along the northern shoreline, about 1.24 miles West of the public launch. Here you can find numerous wood storks, Ibis, and Egrets. The lake also is an important habitat for Eagles, Ospreys, Herons, Coots, Anhingas, and Swallow-Tailed Kites…James

The Cedar Keys – Atsena Otie Key – Aug 2018

Aerial view of Atsena Otie KeyCedar Key is a city located 50 miles southwest of Gainesville, Fl on SR 24, in Levy County. The group of keys is named after the Eastern Red Cedar tree, which played a predominant role during the 1800s. Cedar Key was actually offshore from where the city is located now, on the island key of Atsena Otie. “Atsena Otie” is from the Muskogean language “acheno ota” which translates to Cedar Island. It was here that settlers established the town Cedar Key in 1842…..James