The Suwannee River, immortalized in Stephen Foster’s lyrics, “Way down upon the Suwanee River”, winds hundreds of miles from Southern Georgia, through swamps, hardwood hammocks, limestone, and salt marshes to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. And for nature lovers and boaters, this is where you can have an epic adventure!
Epic things to do in this area including boating, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, birding, biking, camping, hiking and swimming in the springs.
Manatee Springs State Park, near Chiefland, has amazing cold-water springs to swim in! There is also camping, biking, canoes and kayaks, fishing and hiking. If you visit the springs, you may even see the manatees. Also, don’t miss walking the boardwalk from the springs to the river. Along this route, you will see “trees with knees” – the cypress trees unique root structures projecting up from the ground.
Manatee Springs
Suwannee River State Park, near Live Oak, is located at the intersection of the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers and offers backcountry canoeing and kayaking opportunities as well as biking, birding, boating, camping, fishing and hiking.
Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge is located along 26 miles of Gulf of Mexico. Here you can take advantages of biking, canoeing, kayaking, and boating to explore the largest rover delta in the US with over 50,000 acres of wetlands and uplands.
The Islands of Cedar key, “the gems of Florida’s Nature Coast” offer a community with artists, fisherman, and clam farmers. Here you can explore islands by boat, kayak, bike or golf carts.
We were lucky enough to have friends, who have a condo and a boat right along the river and we enjoyed a relaxing week of simply boating and fishing and a trip to Manatee Springs State Park. We saw turtles, dolphins, manatee, jumping gulf sturgeon, alligators and all kinds of birds and fish.
Suwannee River Sunset
Overall – if you are looking for a relaxing, slow pace of life, with the added adventure of being on or around the water then check out one of these areas. This is a great stop for camping or RV camping or even check out SuwanneeRentals.com for a vacation rental. All you need then is your fishing license, some bait and a desire to relax!
