Oklawaha & Silver
Here I am paddling along the river and I feel like I am flying. I can see the bottom of the river, the trees on the bank and feel the warm sun shinning down on me. Under the kayak there are two gar about four to five feet in length swimming along with my kayak . I could reach down and touch them except they are ten to fifteen feet below me. Boy is this a good way to throw off the stress and realities of this world . Than reality jerks you back when you look up at the cypress knees and see seven monkeys staring at you. No I am not paddling down some Southern African river expecting Tarzan to swing out of a tree . I am right here in Florida were they filmed the old Tarzan movies and the monkeys are descendants from the ones that escaped during the filming of the Tarzan movies.
I am paddling the Silver River along with six good friends who are camping and canoeing buddies. The seven of us ( Mac McCullough , Harry McDonald ,Ray DeFillipis, O.N.Van Orman ,Jack Stevens , Don Coker and myself.) meet at the Oklawaha Outpost which is owned and operated by Larry and Gloria Reiche. We spent the first night (Wednesday ) of the trip at Larry’s campground .The next morning (Thursday ) Larry loaded all of our equipment in his van and drove us to the SR 40 ramp at Wayside Park where we unloaded the canoes and my kayak .Then we packed all of the gear in the boats and started our two night trip on the Oklawaha River . Included in this trip was a short side trip up the Silver River which flows into the Oklawaha.
As Larry pointed out to me . People don’t think of Florida as having dense forests and tree canopied rivers but we do. The canopied Oklawaha river is wild enough to have bobcat , deer , and black bear along it’s banks , otters swim the river and it’s side channels while wild turkeys call to each other along the river. When the sun starts to set and night arrives the owl’s start there serenade and with the morning the song birds will tell you to get up.
The Oklawaha river is about 110 miles long starting from several lakes in Central Florida and ending at the St. Johns river. The Oklawaha forms the Western and Northern boundaries of the Ocala National Forest with the St. Johns forming the Eastern border accounting for the abundant wildlife.
We paddled the middle section of the river with the short side trip up the Silver river.
After we did a part of the Silver River ( no we did not go all the way up to Silver Springs) it is about a three hour paddle one way to the springs along with a one hour drift back down. At a later date we plan on returning to Gores landing and camp. Than we can paddle all the way up the Silver River to the springs and spend the day. You can not camp on the banks of the Silver River because it is private and posted property. The Silver river is a wildlife photographers dream. There are all descriptions of bird life which just sit there and pose for you .Example ,I paddled to within five feet of a pileated woodpecker before it flew upriver.
After leaving the Silver river we entered the Oklawaha and started downstream with the 3 to 5 mile per hour current. You don’t have to paddle very hard just more or less drift and occasional dip your paddle in the river to maintain direction and to make it around the bends. By the way Oklawaha in Indian means Crooked river and they named it correctly. The State of Florida owns the land on both sides of the river so camping is allowed along the river.
Interesting item......I was told that the Silver River ,in one day, adds 550 million gallons of water to the Oklawaha and this is the reason for the good current.
The Oklawaha’s water reminded me of the Wekiva river in color , which would make a person think of basically watered down Lemon Lime Gator Aid or a slight greenish color. Even with the slight green tint of the water you can see the bottom most of the time. The banks of the Oklawaha also made me think of the Wekiva . The banks are lined with cypress trees and knees along with Lilly pads, swamp maples and sable palms. The similarity ends there because the Wekiva has a lot of motorboat traffic.
The first night on the river we missed our camp site so we stayed at Gores landing which is the half way point from SR 40 to the Outpost( about the10 mile range , the total trip was 20 miles). Gores Landing is a small but very nice campground with lots of wildlife as Jack would find out later that night.
A little after midnight Jack had to have a visit with mother nature . When he crawled out of his tent he surprised a black bear . The bear was rather close to his tent and it is very hard to figure who was surprised the most but the bear made the most noise running through the woods.
Now it is Friday morning. We climbed out of the tents , stretched , had breakfast and a leisurely cup of coffee . Then we started to pack the boats when along comes a light drizzle and later RAIN. Rain it did in fact all day and that night . Thankfully Mac and Van found a good campsite about 45 minutes North of Gores Landing. Luckily Ray remembered to bring along a very large tarp so we had a dry area without having to stay in the tents . We figured that it rained about three inches and later (Saturday) when we returned to the Outpost Larry told us that it only rained two inches .
Saturday morning we got up and packed the boats under a overcast sky wishing for some clear skies but enjoying every moment of the trip. As luck would have it the sky cleared and the final portion of the trip was a lot dryer than the previous day. When we got back to the Outpost it was clear and sunny. We finished the trip with a very pleasant float down the Oklawaha river.
Even with the rain on Friday and Friday night all of us agreed , this was one great river trip and would do it again even in the rain.
Gores Landing is a Monroe County park which is on the honor fee system and is located off County 315 about half way between SR.40 and County 316
The Oklawaha Outpost is under new ownership and here is there web page and information.
http://www.outpostresort.com/
Chuck.
Here I am paddling along the river and I feel like I am flying. I can see the bottom of the river, the trees on the bank and feel the warm sun shinning down on me. Under the kayak there are two gar about four to five feet in length swimming along with my kayak . I could reach down and touch them except they are ten to fifteen feet below me. Boy is this a good way to throw off the stress and realities of this world . Than reality jerks you back when you look up at the cypress knees and see seven monkeys staring at you. No I am not paddling down some Southern African river expecting Tarzan to swing out of a tree . I am right here in Florida were they filmed the old Tarzan movies and the monkeys are descendants from the ones that escaped during the filming of the Tarzan movies.
I am paddling the Silver River along with six good friends who are camping and canoeing buddies. The seven of us ( Mac McCullough , Harry McDonald ,Ray DeFillipis, O.N.Van Orman ,Jack Stevens , Don Coker and myself.) meet at the Oklawaha Outpost which is owned and operated by Larry and Gloria Reiche. We spent the first night (Wednesday ) of the trip at Larry’s campground .The next morning (Thursday ) Larry loaded all of our equipment in his van and drove us to the SR 40 ramp at Wayside Park where we unloaded the canoes and my kayak .Then we packed all of the gear in the boats and started our two night trip on the Oklawaha River . Included in this trip was a short side trip up the Silver River which flows into the Oklawaha.
As Larry pointed out to me . People don’t think of Florida as having dense forests and tree canopied rivers but we do. The canopied Oklawaha river is wild enough to have bobcat , deer , and black bear along it’s banks , otters swim the river and it’s side channels while wild turkeys call to each other along the river. When the sun starts to set and night arrives the owl’s start there serenade and with the morning the song birds will tell you to get up.
The Oklawaha river is about 110 miles long starting from several lakes in Central Florida and ending at the St. Johns river. The Oklawaha forms the Western and Northern boundaries of the Ocala National Forest with the St. Johns forming the Eastern border accounting for the abundant wildlife.
We paddled the middle section of the river with the short side trip up the Silver river.
After we did a part of the Silver River ( no we did not go all the way up to Silver Springs) it is about a three hour paddle one way to the springs along with a one hour drift back down. At a later date we plan on returning to Gores landing and camp. Than we can paddle all the way up the Silver River to the springs and spend the day. You can not camp on the banks of the Silver River because it is private and posted property. The Silver river is a wildlife photographers dream. There are all descriptions of bird life which just sit there and pose for you .Example ,I paddled to within five feet of a pileated woodpecker before it flew upriver.
After leaving the Silver river we entered the Oklawaha and started downstream with the 3 to 5 mile per hour current. You don’t have to paddle very hard just more or less drift and occasional dip your paddle in the river to maintain direction and to make it around the bends. By the way Oklawaha in Indian means Crooked river and they named it correctly. The State of Florida owns the land on both sides of the river so camping is allowed along the river.
Interesting item......I was told that the Silver River ,in one day, adds 550 million gallons of water to the Oklawaha and this is the reason for the good current.
The Oklawaha’s water reminded me of the Wekiva river in color , which would make a person think of basically watered down Lemon Lime Gator Aid or a slight greenish color. Even with the slight green tint of the water you can see the bottom most of the time. The banks of the Oklawaha also made me think of the Wekiva . The banks are lined with cypress trees and knees along with Lilly pads, swamp maples and sable palms. The similarity ends there because the Wekiva has a lot of motorboat traffic.
The first night on the river we missed our camp site so we stayed at Gores landing which is the half way point from SR 40 to the Outpost( about the10 mile range , the total trip was 20 miles). Gores Landing is a small but very nice campground with lots of wildlife as Jack would find out later that night.
A little after midnight Jack had to have a visit with mother nature . When he crawled out of his tent he surprised a black bear . The bear was rather close to his tent and it is very hard to figure who was surprised the most but the bear made the most noise running through the woods.
Now it is Friday morning. We climbed out of the tents , stretched , had breakfast and a leisurely cup of coffee . Then we started to pack the boats when along comes a light drizzle and later RAIN. Rain it did in fact all day and that night . Thankfully Mac and Van found a good campsite about 45 minutes North of Gores Landing. Luckily Ray remembered to bring along a very large tarp so we had a dry area without having to stay in the tents . We figured that it rained about three inches and later (Saturday) when we returned to the Outpost Larry told us that it only rained two inches .
Saturday morning we got up and packed the boats under a overcast sky wishing for some clear skies but enjoying every moment of the trip. As luck would have it the sky cleared and the final portion of the trip was a lot dryer than the previous day. When we got back to the Outpost it was clear and sunny. We finished the trip with a very pleasant float down the Oklawaha river.
Even with the rain on Friday and Friday night all of us agreed , this was one great river trip and would do it again even in the rain.
Gores Landing is a Monroe County park which is on the honor fee system and is located off County 315 about half way between SR.40 and County 316
The Oklawaha Outpost is under new ownership and here is there web page and information.
http://www.outpostresort.com/
Chuck.
DocMobius