Let me tell you about a beautiful part of Florida most Floridians have never heard of and fewer still have seen. I’m talking about the rivers and streams that flow south out of Georgia and Alabama across the Florida panhandle and empty into the Gulf of Mexico. How many of their names west of the Suwannee River do you recognize: Fenholloway, Econfina, Aucilla, Wacissa, St. Marks, Sopchoppy, Ochlochonee, Apalachicola, Choctawhatchee, Yellow, Perdido? These are the main rivers, but there are others.
My brother Rich drove up from Miami, we put a canoe on my SUV and took off last week to see five of them near Tallahassee: the Aucilla, Wacissa, St. Marks, Sopchoppy and Ochlochonee. The Florida Trail winds its way west, crossing most of these rivers. We sampled two stretches: the Aucilla Sinks where the Aucilla River goes underground and the trail west of SR 375 and the town of Medart. These are beautiful sections of the trail, but I recommend the winter months. The warmth of April invites mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers.
Here are some pictures from our week in the panhandle:.
