North Florida Paddles
Big Bend Saltwater
Paddling Trail -
Cedar Key National
Wildlife Refuge Wakulla River -
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge -
Port St. Joseph Peninsula State Park
Central Florida Paddles
Ulumay Wildlife
Refuge - Hillsborough River -
Ocklawaha
River - Silver River
Santa Fe River -
Mosquito Lagoon
South Florida Paddles
Fisheating Creek 2-05 -
Fisheating Creek 2-04
Florida Keys
Florida Panhandle
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| Wakulla River | St. Marks River |
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| Beach at Port St. Joseph Peninsula State Park | Launch at St. Marks NWR |
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The lighthouse at St. Marks NWR |
| Cedar Key
National Wildlife Refuge Perhaps nothing says Cedar Key better than the Thomas Guest House (pictured at right). This old structure has been the image of the small island for years. Battered and leaning precariously from last summer's onslaught of hurricanes, it doesn't seem long before this landmark is gone forever... |
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The series of islands or keys comprising the Cedar Key
area is an open water paddling delight. We paddled to Atsena Otie
and Snake Keys. |
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White sandy beaches can be found on Atsena Otie Key. A great place to stop and get out. Atsena also has the only nature trail to the interior of the island as well as a small cemetary dating to the Civil War era. |
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The canoe trail of Atsena Otie Key |
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Dennis paddles on what turns out to be a glassy day - it didn't start that way. A cold front the day before meant we were met by 40 degree temperatures and 20-25 knot winds when we first reached the put-in. We waited it out, taking advice from the captain's on the docks and sure enough, it turned into a beautiful, calm day. |
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| Caught these Roseate Spoonbills just taking off | |
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We startled this little guy, too |
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Ancient Cypress trees offer a cool canopy during the hot summer months |
This river boasts a wide array of wildlife including this stunning heron
One of Florida's most scenic paddle trails, the Hillsborough
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Winter offers a completely different Ocklawaha river.
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For those seeking to double their adventure,
The Ocklawaha is known for its easy float trip -
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| Located in Ocala just south of the Silver
Springs attraction, the popular launch for the paddle is Wayside Park.
This offers a moderate paddle upstream against the 3-5 mph
current to the attraction and an easy float back to the launch. Feel
free to look at the boils of one of the State's most impressive springs,but getting out of the boat is prohibited.
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 The Silver River is famous for its free- roaming Rhesus monkeys. Released during the filming of the Tarzan movies in the 40's, they have propagated into several large colonies and can be seen along the banks. Don't get too close, though - THEY BITE!
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| Santa Fe
River, High Springs, FL The Santa Fe is a perfect summer paddle. The river has numerous springs keeping the water a refreshing 72 year round - great for a swim on a hot day |
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 Our friends Ed & Nan enjoying the river |
 Lily Springs |
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Dennis clowning with Ed. Above is the (in)famous Lily Springs - home of Nature Ed the loincloth man. Nature Ed is the one on the right - the nice man who always welcomes us to enjoy his spring. (not to be confused with our friend Ed!) |
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| Mosquito
Lagoon, New Smyrna Beach This special place is one of our favorites and we never get skunked on wildlife. We have seen dolphin feeding and playing, manatee mating and water birds galore every time we come (except the one time we bring friends to show it off of course!). |
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A dolphin swims near my kayak |
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Dennis fishes off the little spit of beach where we stop for lunch |
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A liveaboard |
Dennis paddles his Tempest |
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The Ibis tree |
Pure Beauty |
| South Florida Paddles | |
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Fisheating
Creek, Palmdale, FL This unique river located in
Palmdale at the edge of Okeechobee is |
 Dennis fishing |
 Campsite |
 Old growth cypress lines the bank |
 Paddling through this cypress forest was yet another surprise |
 The river narrows and twists |
 Perfect day as we make our way to the take-out |
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Florida
Keys - Upper & Middle Keys Our kayak camp trip to Nest Keys was out of the question with 25 knot winds, so we played tourist instead, "roughing" it at the Holiday Inn in Key Largo and taking day paddles out of Long Key and Lower Matecumbe. We spent an entire day exploring Lignumvitae and Indian Keys from a roadside pull-off and then spent a day at Long Key State Park, launching from our picnic area stop. It wasn't the adventure we'd planned, but nothing can beat the relaxation of time spent in this tropical paradise.
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| The westerly winds gave us unusual calm waters on the ocean side |
That's Lignumvitae Key in the distance |
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Above is Indian Key - one of many of the coral islands here |
This is our launch site from Long Key
State Park - the campsites |
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We saw nurse sharks, reef and black tip sharks, ballyhoo, bonefish and rays galore! |
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Above is our "camp" for the week. Really, it was kind of tough to take! |
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Copyright© 2000, 2004 Dennis Gonzalez and Kim Gonzalez
This page was last updated on
09/09/08.
All photos taken by Kim Gonzalez unless otherwise
notated. All rights reserved. No photos may be
reproduced or used without written consent of photographer.