MBCKC Paddle Reports

Wacissa River, Florida
October 2004
by Gary Worob

I recently came back from "trippin" around the U.S. and thought I would sit still and just paddle locally until a phone call came asking if I wanted to join the Georgia Canoe Club on their Wacissa River trip. It is a paddle that is nearly impossible to miss and one of my five favorite places to paddle, so far.

The Wacissa is located south of Talahassee, just off of Hwy. 59, and is a fairly swift moving river, fed by no less than 12 magnitude springs. This means it is crystal clear even when other rivers have been overrun with rain and runoff and turned dark. The river is full of fish and thousands of wading birds, eagles, hawks and alligators. If you are a diver, there are several springs to explore and many other dive caves in the vicinity.

The river is almost entirely free of development and with a group of 36 paddlers, we were able to spread out enough on the five hour paddle so that congestion was never an issue. Many people chose to explore the banks for most of the trip, as there were lots of visuals to appreciate, including the beautiful plants and flowers in bloom. My favorite was the lobelia cardinalis.

There were four of us from the Mobile Bay Canoe & Kayak Club and we knew only a couple of the Georgia people but it was a great group to explore with. Camping was free and wonderful at Goose Pastures which was the take out point. It was also the part way point, if you intended to paddle the lower section through the slave canal, which is another 3-4 hour paddle and best done with someone who knows the way.

On the way home, we stopped for a tour at Wakula State Park, only a half hour from the take out at Goose Pastures. We were amazed to see the facilities and history. Several old movies were filmed there, including "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and the original Johnny Weismuller "Tarzan" movies. The hotel there is beautiful and worth the thought for a getaway vacation. We also stopped at one of my favorite springs on the way back...Blue Springs on the Econfina River, above Panama City on Hwy. 20. I have reserved the campgrounds there several times before(which holds 24 campers and is right on a spring), through the Northwest Florida Water Management. It costs about $20 for the whole weekend for everyone. Reservations are from January 1 and can only be for a friday afternoon through monday morning. They are difficult to obtain for a weekend, but are well worth it.

You can go online to see Wacissa Springs stories and photos and then think about a great getaway. If you don't have enough people to shuttle, then look at www.seakayakflorida.com and think about a round trip of about seven miles from the put-in at Wacissa.

There is a group campsite with locked gate available at Goose Pastures. It comes with a pavilion, lots of tables and great campsites for plenty of people. There is no electric or water service available, just great camping next to the river.

If you take Hwy. 20 east, which is a very mellow drive compared to I-10, stop at RJ's Fishhouse, a few miles east of Hosford and just a couple hundred yards off 20 on 0120. Have some fried pickles, great fish and good service.