Whatever your craft, plying the rivers, springs, runs and streams of the Suwannee Valley is a marvelous experience. Thousands angle for bass, bream, cat and perch. Others swim in the spring boils or enjoy tubing down the crystal clear Ichetucknee. Canoeists and kayakers paddle silently by and pontoon boaters ease along in comfort. Power boaters and waterskiers thrill to their sport. Divers search the remains of sunken ships and prehistoric sites in the river and those certified can explore caves in the limestone Florida Aquifer.

   The Suwannee is a wonderful river for boats of almost any size. Any boat, power or sail, that can get in the 7' deep entrance channel from the Gulf or be trailerlaunched, can go as far as the 34' high bridge at Fanning Spring. Boats that can make it under the 10' Nature Coast Trail bridge above Fanning Springs, will have clear sailing all the way to Branford. The distance from the Gulf to Branford is a pristine 76 miles. River depths are normally between 7 to 55 feet and good water can usually be found right up to the river bank. Caution: The Suwannee does not have a marked or maintained navigational channel. There are several sandbars which must be avoided. During flood periods, the river should not be used for recreational purposes of any kind.
 

THE HISTORIC SUWANNEE

The Suwannee River arises in the Okefenokee Swamp straddling the Florida-Georgia border. It's massive flow is fed by over 197 pristine fresh water springs and unnumbered creeks and tributaries. Lying in Florida's Big Bend section between the peninsula and the panhandle, it is one of Nature's dividing lines between subtropical southern Florida and the more conventional northerly environments. William Bartram was one of the areas earliest naturalists, explorers and writers. In 1791 he wrote of his travels on and about the Little St. Juan's (Little St. Johns) which later became the Suwannee. Throughout it's history men have used it as a means of travel, trade and communication. During the 19th century timbermen floated huge rafts of hardwoods, pine, cypress and naval stores to be loaded aboard ships in the lower Suwannee. Trading schooners plied its waters bringing goods and, just as eagerly sought, news from the outside. During the Civil War the river was a major port for Confederate supplies. River commerce continued right up to the 1950s when better roads and trucks provided a more efficient means of transport. Today the Suwannee is still one of the most undisturbed major rivers in the country. Most of its traffic and use is recreational. We hope you'll join those of us who love our rivers and help keep it clean and beautiful.

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