- Alachua Lake
- Bear Creek
- Black Creek
- Canaveral National Seashore
- Cedar Key
- Chassahowitzka River
- Cross Creek
- Crystal River
- Cumberland Island
- Gum Slough
- Homosassa River
- Hontoon Island
- Ichetucknee River
- Juniper Run
- Newnans Lake
- Ocklawaha River #1
- Ocklawaha River #2
- Ocklawaha River #3
- Ocklawaha River #4
- Orange Lake
- Ozello
- Paynes Prairie
- Pee Gee Marsh
- Prairie Creek
- Rainbow River
- River Rise
- River Styx
- Rock Springs Run
- Salt Springs
- Santa Fe River
- Silver River
- St. Augustine
- St. Johns
- Steinhatchee River
- Suwannee River #1
- Suwannee River #2
- Suwannee River #3
- Suwannee River #4
- Suwannee River #5
- Suwannee River #6
- Tomoka River
- Waccasassa River
- Wacissa Aucilla River
- Wakulla
- Weeki Wachee
- Withlacoochee
Bear Creek
Cost: $50.00 per person (includes boat, paddle, vest, shuttling and your guide)
Using your Own Boat: $35 (many paddlers with their own boats like to join us to learn more about the history, archaeology and natural history of these rivers).
Group Size: 1 - 24 people
Trip Time: 4 - 5 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Difficulty: Pull-overs and short wades are a possibility. There are a few tricky forks on all of the side cannels and on the Ocklawaha itself so you won't want to get too far away from the guide.
Location: To see this river's general location, go to the River Locator Map or Click on link below for a local map and then use zoom and panning arrows to explore the area. Note: the red star is NOT our meeting place, but just a nearby town or landmark. View Map
Dates: Join us for a scheduled tour (see calendar for trips being planned). If you see a free date on the calendar, suggest the trip of your choice and we'll post it! Or schedule your own private tour. Call for details (386-454-0611)
Description
This remote little stream offers a great opportunity to explore the wild beauty of a swamp without getting wet (usually).
On this trip, we explore the maze of creeks and sloughs that braid through the backwaters of the lower Ocklawaha basin. The first leg of our journey follows Bear Creek and Indian Village Slough into the heart of the swamp. Much of this section lies within Little Lake George Wilderness Area. Cypress, tupelo, maple, cabbage palm, holly and more, form a closed canopy overhead. In their shadows, we take in the rich sights, sounds and smells of the regal bottomland forest.
After a couple of hours paddling, we emerge from this shaded, intimate serenity onto the wide open expanse of St. Johns River. Here we rest, drifting in a floating garden of spatter dock, water lettuce, water hyacinth, duckweed and water ferns, enjoying lunch and watching the hustle of myriad river-craft, with shapes and sizes as diverse as their tasks. Many birds live along the big river and there's always the possibility of spotting a manatee. After our brief, rejuvenating siesta, fed and fluffy, we resume our trip, entering the mouth of the Ocklawaha.
This part of the Ocklawaha starts out fairly wide but narrows as we make our way up against a modest current. Soon, we succumb to the lure of the swamp and we turn our boats away from the wide channel and reenter the river swamp. Following a series of small watery trails, with names like Turpentine Creek and Tusintak Creek, we pass through a section of Caravelle Ranch Wildlife Management Area before returning to our original launch site. This is a round trip.
Wildlife
Florida's swamps, in general, are a virtual smorgasbord (are my Danish roots showing?) of wildlife. The Ocklawaha river swamp is a prime example. The year-round abundance of woodland birds swells considerably in winter with arriving migrants. Manatees are a possibility in the vicinity of the St. Johns river. Other wild residents include bears, eagles, osprey, deer, otters, egrets, herons, ibis and other water birds. This section also has a healthy 'gator population, as well as snakes and an occasional wild hog. We often see wading birds, ranging from lone limpkins to 100+ flocks of white ibis feeding among the cypress knees and buttressed trunks of ash, tupelo and oak.
- Forager's Notebook -
Spatterdock (Nuphar luteum) - Our northern clients often know this plant as pond lily or cow lily. The small hard seeds found in the little 'brandy-bottle' seed pods (so nick-named because of their waisted, flask shape and also because the flowers sometimes smell like stale brandy dregs), are edible. Knowledgeable fishermen gather small "bonnet worms" that live in the stalks to use as bait. The ripe, dried seeds can be popped like popcorn, but don't get your hopes up. While they make a unique snack when parched over a a fire, they don't pop like popcorn. A few seeds will swell and pop slightly, but they don't expand much bigger than the un-popped seeds. Even so, they are fairly tasty - especially when seasoned, salted and buttered. We see small patches of spatterdock on the open sections of this Bear Creek exploration. But, its' at lunch where we find ourselves drifting dreamily in a large, several acre patch of their deep green leaves and attractive, yellow blooms
History
Remains of an ancient Indian village site and a nearby shell mound, located on the high ground south of Indian Village Slough, attest to prehistoric occupation of this area. In the historic period this section of the Ocklawaha River, with it's vast swamp lands, has gone relatively untouched. For more on the Ocklawaha river's past, see Ocklawaha trip history).
Trip Notes
(Interesting sightings or notes? Let us know and we'll post here)
Oct 14, 2001 - Fall is showing its colors. Red maples, black gum, sweet gum and dogwoods are providing reds of all shade, while wild grapes, hickory and others add some yellow. These, when mixed with the beautiful copper crowns of the bald cypress and the many hues of green offered by the die-hard leaves of the evergreens species and set against the electric blue winter sky, made this a very scenic trip. Several large flocks of white ibis were seen in the swamps as we quietly maneuvered down the thin, "north leg" stream.
Current Conditions
(If you go, let us know)
March 2, 2006 – Water levels are a little high, giving the river forest a good soaking. Usually, this would men fewer wading birds, but on today's trip we were treated to quite a few feathered companions. A couple of large flocks of white ibis were making their way up and down the channel, while pine warblers and scores of other LBJ's (little brown jobs) worked the under story. We spotted a half dozen gators, and twice as many turtles (mostly red-bellies) soaking up the sun and gearing up for the carnival of spring. At this time of year, we get a great demonstration of the subtle differences a few fractions of a degree in latitude makes on the environment. Here, in the Ocklawaha valley, red maples are a bit greener and more of their ripe, red samara (seeds) have dropped than those in the next valley to the north, along the Santa Fe. Elm leaves are bigger, newly unfurled ash leaves are a bit longer, the dust of oak pollen is more apparent. The forests of the Suwannee are just a shade less green. Fewer flowers have dared open and unopened buds are not as plump. But in either place, there's no mistaking it - spring is here!!
Oct. 3, 2006 - It's hard to believe the entire summer season passed without a chance to explore these quiet backwaters. Our last trip was a celebration of re-emerging spring foliage, while this trip was heavy in the subtle signs of autumn. All of the hard work of summer - producing flowers, attracting pollinators, developing seeds - is now paying off. Seeds, nuts and fruits decorate branches of many swamp plants. Dogwoods formerly greenish-white fruits are now purple. Female hollies are brilliantly decorated with orange berries, while the males rest - their work long done. Tupelo, haw, and bay trees all boast the fruits of a successful season. Less showy, but no less important, are the dried seeds of ash trees that hang heavily in dense, brown clusters. But, of course, for us passing human guests, it's the show of colorful foliage that highlights autumn paddling in these forests. While we're far from "peak" here in central Florida, there are signs of the coming season. Weakened red maples, tupelos, dogwoods and even poison ivy are showing their first inclination to give up the summer, while cardinal flowers and swamp lilies are in full bloom. No sign yet of the true harbinger of fall - climbing asters - but it won't be long. Several gators and assorted birds made good company on this days exploration.
Feb. 05, 2008- The forests of the lower Ocklawaha are alive with the smells and colors of spring, and Bear Creek is as good as ever. However, a few new downfalls have elevated the difficulty and added about 1/2 hour to the trip. For the pessimist, that's a half hour more work - for the optimist, it's an extra half hour to enjoy the woods.
June 15, 2008- A few trees have fallen across Tusintak Creek, which made for a bit of a workout. There is an alternate route that we can take on our next trip to avoid these obstacles. Aside from that, the creek and river are looking great. Cardinal flowers are blooming in the couple of isolated patches where they grow on this stretch.
July 6, '08 - Water levels were a bit low, bringing some of the submerged logs closer to the surface. A couple of spots that were easy scooch-overs before, now require getting out of the boat and doing a pull-over. Aside from that, the creeks were all as beautiful as ever. Motorboats were amazingly scarce on the brief section of the wide Ocklawaha that we paddle. Only saw about three motor boats - amazing for a holiday weekend!