Airboating & Kayaking on the Wacissa River Paddling Trail, Florida

Our airboat zig zagged implicit eelgrasses and aquatic plants and past startled alligators connected the Wacissa River, successful the Big Bend portion of Florida.

Savannah clutched my limb with a substance of panic and exhilaration connected her face. I grinned and whooped backmost astatine her, “This is truthful awesome!!”

The Wacissa River is simply a 15-mile idyllic agelong of calm, wide water, surrounded by verdant vegetation and filled with thriving wildlife. It’s known for being location to an array of wildlife, from turtles, h2o snakes, stream otters, and of people (this is Florida) alligators.

airboat ride, Wacissa River

Despite its inhabitants, this stream is simply a fashionable spot for h2o activities, specified arsenic swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and airboating.

We chose to airboat and kayak Wacissa River during our travel to Jefferson County. Here’s what our acquisition looked like!

What’s peculiar astir the Wacissa River?

The Wacissa River is wide regarded arsenic the astir beauteous stream successful Florida and is celebrated for its crystal wide waters. It’s fed by 12 large springs and is managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and is portion of the Aucilla Wildlife Management Area and Suwannee River Water Management District

Because the Wacissa’s stream travel is dilatory and calm, it’s a fashionable spot for recreation.

While you mightiness beryllium enactment disconnected swimming knowing that alligators inhabit these waters, determination are designated swimming spots, including the celebrated Big Blue Spring, a fashionable swimming hole.

The crystal wide h2o flows for 15 miles earlier it connects to the Aucilla River, which is fed by the Aucilla Spring and is not truthful crystal clear. You’ll cognize you’ve reached the extremity erstwhile the h2o turns to a distinctive “blackwater.”

Our Experience Airboating and Kayaking the Wacissa River

The Wacissa River is accessed from the Wacissa Springs Country Park, a pristine, earthy quality successful North Florida adjacent Monticello, which we lone discovered erstwhile we arrived astatine her banks.

This portion of Florida is quiescent and remote, offering solitude and serenity – but it’s nary little beauteous than different places successful Florida that get the fanfare and whistles.

Sometimes it pays disconnected to spell a small further disconnected the trail, and adventuring down the Wacissa River is 1 mode to beryllium this.

airboat ride, Wacissa River

It was the past escapade connected our road travel of North Florida. It was the cleanable extremity to our roadworthy travel arsenic the much we travel, the much we tendency to question outdoor adventures escaped from the crowds!

Wacissa Springs

As we walked up to the aerial vessel astatine the opening of our travel astatine Wacissa River Springs Country Park, I was magnetically drawn to regard successful wonderment astatine the presumption successful beforehand of me.

A dense, tropical canopy bordered a ample assemblage of crystal wide stream covered with h2o hyacinths and agleam greenish lilies.

Kayakers dilatory paddled up the river, astir arsenic if successful a dilatory question imagination and a enactment dangled from an past cypress histrion wherever kids launched themselves giggling into the water.

It was similar stepping into a concealed High Definition Disney movie.

This is 1 of the past existent hidden gems successful Florida. No, marque that the USA.

Even if you don’t spell immoderate further down the Wacissa, it is worthy visiting for the presumption unsocial and possibly plaything yourself disconnected that enactment into the refreshingly chill outpouring waters.

Wacissa Springs is wherever you committee your airboat tour, OR, rent kayaks to deepen your explorations downstream and into the galore springs that provender it.

The Wacissa River by Airboat and Kayak

The Wacissa River is simply a archetypal magnitude clear, spring-fed watercourse that is fed by astir 20 springs astatine its headwaters.

The stream flows astir 15-miles (19 km) southbound done a wide cypress swamp earlier breaking into galore braided channels, which articulation the Aucilla River, a fewer miles further south.

The river, usually crystal clear, was somewhat brownish owed to ample amounts of rainfall earlier we arrived.

You tin research a fewer of the springs connected kayak astatine the opening of the river, the archetypal mile of which tin get engaged with chap kayakers.

Our airboat circuit took america beyond the paddlers to a satellite we had astir to ourselves – but for the snapping alligators and turtles.

Captain Brad Cooley from 5 Rivers Adventures was our usher for the day.

He grew up connected the Wacissa and Aucilla River and was knowledgeable astir the area, stopping to constituent retired antithetic types of birds (Bald Eages are adjacent said to sojourn this region), Indian mounds, and however to place them, and the bubbles of the outpouring waters opening its journey.

Airboat connected the Wacissa

He took america into a mates of springs, including Wakulla Springs, Little Blue, and the celebrated Big Blue Springs – a favourite for those craving a refreshing dip who travel for the kayaking adjacent Tallahassee.

You’ll find a enactment plaything up successful the trees precocious supra the 40-foot-deep bluish green-water.

Brad dived successful from the vessel truthful we could spot conscionable however heavy and wide the h2o is arsenic helium went down, down, and down.

This magical travel took america down the forested corridor of the river, done choky spaces with overhanging branches, past alligators, turtles sunning, and abundant and divers wildlife.

Ospreys, herons, bald eagles, flew from subdivision to subdivision starring down the river.

Anglers formed their lines from the shore, hoping to drawback 1 of the respective taxon of food that unrecorded successful these waters, from bass to mullet to catfish to gar to bluegill.

Savannah and I grinned and squealed and silently absorbed the quality of it for our 11-mile journey. Kalyra sat successful the back, solemnly absorbing the experience. She aboriginal told maine she recovered it beauteous and astonishing but “a small scary!”

Airboat tours crook astir astatine the aged railroad utilized during 1 of the archetypal logging operations successful North Florida.

Brad took america a small further to Goose Pasture, a picnic and nationalist campground, and the starting constituent for the adjacent portion of our adventure…after a delicious picnic lunch!

Kayaking the Slave Canal to the Aucilla River

The archetypal portion down the Wacissa was passive adventure, the remainder of the time was astir getting debased to the h2o and pumping those arms.

We traded the airboat for azygous kayaks and canoes and we acceptable disconnected with a fewer section friends, including usher and section historiographer David Ward.

It’s champion to instrumentality this travel with an experienced guide. Even though the Slave Canal is marked, you could easy get mislaid among antithetic channels branching disconnected truthful its champion to instrumentality this travel with an experienced guide.

Our kayak travel began connected a wide conception of the Wacissa and dilatory narrowed arsenic it disappears into a tiny radical of streams, tributaries, and stream swamps conscionable westbound of the Aucilla River.

Connecting the Wacissa to the Aucilla is what is known arsenic the Slave Canal.

It was decided successful the 1830s to physique a canal to link the Aucilla and Wacissa to alteration proscription of the fabric down to the Gulf.

Slaves were made to bash the backmost breaking enactment of gathering a 2.7 mile canal retired of the limestone. It was abandoned aft the Civil War for much businesslike railroads.

Blocks of limestone stay connected the slope and service arsenic a reminder of the arduous task they faced successful the vigor and humidity with snakes, alligators and mosquito threats of malaria and yellowish fever.

It was a poignant trip, bringing consciousness to their experiences and a reminder to proceed to basal for creating an inclusive and adjacent world.

There are besides respective Indian Mounds on the river, indicating that humans occupied this portion much than 14,000 years ago, arsenic discovered via artifacts recovered successful the archaeological digs conducted by the Aucilla Research Institute.

These woods were afloat of autochthonal radical hunting and sportfishing and it is said the Slave Canal was astir apt erstwhile a Native American concealed trading passageway.  

You tin leap disconnected the kayaks to research the mounds, but the thickness of the mosquitoes and vigor kept america paddling.

We similar to accidental the challenges of our travels are determination conscionable to heighten the story, and those mosquitoes and precocious humidity conscionable gave america a much absorbing communicative to tell.

The h2o is wide and shallow and though the paddling was casual arsenic the existent was flowing accelerated successful assistance, it was rather technical. We had to artfully navigate astir fallen logs, constrictive sections, and overhanging branches.

Ancient oaks and palmettos draped with Spanish moss supply a canopy implicit the river, alligators sat watching connected the banks, 1 adjacent crashed into the h2o with a large process slap conscionable up of us.

We each missed it but for Savannah, who was head-alligator spotter successful the beforehand of the canoe with David.

In the mediate of the trip, aft respective method paddling sections, I was blessed we decided Savannah would beryllium amended kicking backmost successful the canoe than paddling her ain kayak.

Savannah with our guide, David

She was thrilled to travel oculus to oculus with an alligator and forced him to spell underwater successful fear!!

That’s a communicative she has to archer for life.

My favourite portion was David’s adept advice,

“I’m not excessively disquieted astir snakes and alligators successful this area. If a snake drops into your kayak, you tin conscionable benignant of flip it retired with your paddle. It’s the wasps you indispensable interest about. If they travel aft you, the lone happening you tin bash is dive nether the h2o with the alligators. Watch the hanging branches arsenic that’s wherever their nests are.”

Meanwhile, I’d conscionable gone nether astir 4 hanging trees. Never caput due to the fact that my caput was inactive stuck connected the “if a snake drops into your kayak” bit.

I steered wide of those branches for the remainder of the travel adjacent if it meant crashing into different kayaks and logs and astir upending myself with the alligators.

Final Thoughts

This is wherefore I travel. For adventure, memories and stories volition beryllium told astir the campfire for years to come.

This was an escapade I got to acquisition with my children, and if you’re looking for adventurous things to bash successful Florida with kids, enactment this connected your list!

The conflict to support Kalyra focused connected the moment, alternatively than freaking retired astir the spider crawling connected her canoe and the mosquitoes biting each portion of her, was aggravated astatine the time, but we overcame it, and grew together.  

The past 500 yards were pugnacious arsenic we paddled against the swift moving existent of the Aucilla River racing towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Kalyra dug heavy to find the past spot of spot aft a mentally and physically demanding 5-mile way to get herself home. I was disquieted she’d get swept away, but I couldn’t halt to assistance arsenic I’d bash the aforesaid and beryllium useless.

It was an important parenting maturation situation for maine – to fto spell and spot that my kid tin bash it and springiness her the accidental to excavation heavy and find her ain power.

So I conscionable shouted retired encouraging words “You tin bash it, Kalyra!”

As we hauled the kayaks up the vessel ramp and loaded them onto the truck, I hugged her.

“I cognize that was pugnacious for you Kalyra. I americium truthful impressed by what you tin do. Push speech the trauma of it and alternatively instrumentality the existent powerfulness from it.

It showed you what you are genuinely susceptible of and conscionable however beardown and almighty you truly are. Now ideate what you tin bash with that cognition with the remainder of your life.

She ended that escapade with a smile.

Video: Wacissa River Adventures

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