St. Johns River History Paddle

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Dennis King
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St. Johns River History Paddle December 4-8, 2015 Start: Salt Springs Recreation Area End: Riverfront Park in Palatka Total Distance: 55-60 miles, depending on side trips chosen Cost: --Entire Trip:

Official Outfitter: Putnam Blueway & Trails Shuttle Details: There will be a pre-trip shuttle for paddlers and their boats.

After boats and camping gear are loaded, paddlers will be shuttled to Salt Springs Recreation Area to check in for the trip.

DAY Campsite Campsite GPS Daily Miles 1 Salt Springs Recreation Area 2 Renegades on the River 3 Rodeheaver Boys Ranch 29 21.096, -81 43.837 29 25.369, -81 38.836 29 33.205, -81 41.

1 St. Johns River History Paddle December 4-8, 2015 Start: Salt Springs Recreation Area End: Riverfront Park in Palatka Total Distance: miles, depending on side trips chosen Cost: --Entire Trip: $425/paddler (includes nightly camping, 3 meals daily, and pre-trip shuttle) --Paddle Florida Lite (3 or fewer days): $110/day (includes camping and meals) Registration Deadline: November 20, 2015 Official Outfitter: Putnam Blueway & Trails Shuttle Details: There will be a pre-trip shuttle for paddlers and their boats. Paddlers will need to report to the clock tower at Riverfront Park in downtown Palatka by 1PM on December 4. After boats and camping gear are loaded, paddlers will be shuttled to Salt Springs Recreation Area to check in for the trip. Participants will paddle their way back to their vehicles over the next four days. Trip Itinerary: Click here for a map overview of the trip. DAY Campsite Campsite GPS Daily Miles 1 Salt Springs Recreation Area 2 Renegades on the River 3 Rodeheaver Boys Ranch , , , Dunns Creek State Park , Trip s end: Palatka , Total Miles: Our paddling adventure will follow in the wake of William Bartram as he explored the St. Johns River and its environs. Bartram Trails Putnam County has documented 31 Bartram Trail Sites (BTS) where William Bartram went ashore during his travels on the St. Johns River and established hiking, biking, and paddling trails linking each of these locations. Our paddling journey on the historic St. Johns River will highlight these documented Bartram Sites, stopping along the way to compare the observations recorded by the Bartram s nearly 250 years ago to the conditions that exist today.

Visit Putnam County s Bartram Trails website to familiarize yourself with the information contained on the site in preparation for your trip.

Day 1/Friday, December 4: Salt Springs Recreation Area Paddling Miles: 0 Before boarding the shuttle for the Salt Springs Campground, visit and read the Bartram kiosk at Riverfront Park.

Paddle Florida participants will arrive between 1-5PM at Salt Springs Springs Recreation Area to check in for the trip, set up their tents, eat dinner, and receive an orientation for the adventure to

2 Visit Putnam County s Bartram Trails website to familiarize yourself with the information contained on the site in preparation for your trip. If you have a smart phone or other cellular device, you ll want to bring it along so that you can revisit the website along the way. Day 1/Friday, December 4: Salt Springs Recreation Area Paddling Miles: 0 Before boarding the shuttle for the Salt Springs Campground, visit and read the Bartram kiosk at Riverfront Park. This will provide you with a preview of what s in store as you embark on your trip following in the wake of William Bartram. Paddle Florida participants will arrive between 1-5PM at Salt Springs Springs Recreation Area to check in for the trip, set up their tents, eat dinner, and receive an orientation for the adventure to come. The park is one the recreational jewels of the Ocala National Forest, with a spectacular natural mineral spring that gives the area its name. Weather permitting, you may want to snorkel in the spring or spend some time fishing or birdwatching. Salt Springs (BTS-29) was arguably William Bartram s favorite stop among the many he made during his extensive travels on the St. Johns River in He first visited the spring in 1766 with his father John Bartram, who named it William s Spring in his honor. William spent hours sitting on the banks of the spring observing the many species of fish that inhabited the spring and waxing eloquently about how they appeared to float through the air so clear was the aqueous medium they inhabited. It is widely accepted that William s book Travels inspired parts of Samuel Taylor Coleridge s Rime of the Ancient Mariner and that his poem Kubla Khan draws directly from William s description of this spring. I seated myself upon a swelling green knoll, at the head of the chrystal bason. Near me, just under my feet was the inchanting and amazing chrystal fountain, which incessantly threw up, from dark, rocky caverns below, tons of water every minute, forming a bason, capacious enough for large shallops to ride in, and a creek of four or five feet depth of water, and near twenty yards over, which meanders six miles through green meadows, pouring its limpid waters into the great Lake George, where they seem to remain pure and unmixed. About twenty yards from the upper edge of the bason, and directly opposite to the mouth or outlet to the creek, is a continual and amazing ebullition, where the waters are thrown up in such abundance and amazing force, as to jet and swell up two or three feet above the common surface: white sand and small particles of shells are thrown up with the waters, near to the top, when they diverge from the center, subside with the expanding flood, and gently sink again, forming a large rim or funnel round about the aperture or mouth of the fountain, which is a vast perforation through a bed of rocks, the ragged points of which are projected out on every side. Thus far I know to be matter of real fact, and I have related it as near as I could conceive or express myself. But there are yet remaining scenes inexpressibly admirable and pleasing. from William Bartram s Travels,1774. Keep in mind that this region can be chilly in December, at least by Florida standards. Average temperatures range from degrees, so bring layers to dress in. The fire each night will provide heat, light, ambiance, camaraderie, and maybe a marshmallow or two. Dinner will be served at 6PM each night, followed by an evening program at 7PM. Nightly entertainment ranges from musicians to educational speakers who will provide insights regarding the flora, fauna, and ecology of the region we re paddling through. Be sure to bring cameras to capture and preserve some great moments.

Day 2/Saturday, December 5: Salt Springs Recreation Area to Welaka Paddling Miles: 13 After a hearty breakfast, paddlers will pack up their tents, load their camping gear on our truck, and launch

Today s paddle will follow the route of William Bartram as he journeyed from Salt Springs towards Mount Royal. Bartram spent several days in this section of the St.

At each stop, William would leave his vessel to catalog interesting flora and fauna and note the evidence of ancient native settlements or more recent Spanish habitations.

3 Day 2/Saturday, December 5: Salt Springs Recreation Area to Welaka Paddling Miles: 13 After a hearty breakfast, paddlers will pack up their tents, load their camping gear on our truck, and launch their boats. We ll get an early start this morning in order to get on and off Lake George early enough to avoid the wind and waves that typically build on lake during the day. Today s paddle will follow the route of William Bartram as he journeyed from Salt Springs towards Mount Royal. Bartram spent several days in this section of the St. Johns, reconnoitering Rocky Point (BTS-27) and Drayton Island (BTS-24) along the way. At each stop, William would leave his vessel to catalog interesting flora and fauna and note the evidence of ancient native settlements or more recent Spanish habitations. The western shoreline of the St. Johns along today s paddle is part of the Ocala National Forest and is preserved in a state very similar to that which existed during Bartram s visit. Even today, the interesting rock formations and shell mounds described so poetically by Bartram can be seen along this unique section of shoreline. Watch for wildlife on shore and for deer grazing in the eel grass in the shallows. Alligators, turtles, and other aquatic wildlife are common in this reach as are many species of birds. Though more than a hundred miles upstream from the river s mouth, numerous saltwater species live and thrive in this reach including stingrays and blue crabs. We ll lunch at Putnam County s Biggs Park in Georgetown, as yet undeveloped, but an established Bartram Trail Site (BTS-23). This day s paddle will end at Renegades on the River, a private campground in Welaka. Day 3/Sunday, December 6: Welaka to Rodeheaver Boys Ranch Paddling Miles: 13-15, depending on side trips chosen There are so many interesting sights to see on today s paddle that it will be difficult to do it all! We ll offer side trips for those who are willing to add a little distance in exchange for some big rewards. The first stop will be at a Bartram Trails premier site, Mount Royal (BTS- 21). This site is on the US National Register of Historic Places and, though located in a gated community, we ve arrange access so that you can sit atop this mountain and read Bartram s description of this unique Florida landmark penned two centuries ago. We will also paddle by the mouth of Beecher Springs Run (BTS-22) the Fort Gates Ferry (the oldest ferry service still operating in Florida), Mud Springs Run, Mount Hope (BTS-19), as well as the mouth of the Ocklawaha River, which is the largest tributary of the St. Johns River. Although neither site was visited by Bartram, how Mud Springs Run and the mouth of the Oklawaha escaped his notice confounds Bartram scholars. Those choosing to paddle up the run to see Mud Spring will add two miles to the day s distance. Those who wish to paddle to the mouth of the Ocklawaha River will add another half mile to their day s journey. We will lunch today in Welaka. You ll want to stretch your legs during this stop and take the short walk to the city park a few blocks from the landing to see the Bartram kiosk located there. After lunch we ll return to the water and enter one of the most Bartramrich sections of the St. Johns. We ll paddle past Johnsons Bluff (BTS- 18), Welaka Springs (BTS-17), Nashua Spring (BTS-16), Satsuma Spring (BTS-15) and Johnsons Spring (BTS-14). The jewel among

these Bartram Sites is Satsuma Spring. Few sites afford so intimate a walk in the steps of William Bartram as this remote privately owned spring.

After visiting the spring, we ll head for Rodeheaver Boys Ranch where we will spend the night.

s Creek, may be the most challenging. We ll depart Rodeheaver Boys Ranch and head north (downstream).

This is the site of the historic Spalding s Lower Store (BTS-13), which was Bartram s base of operations during his 1774 travels on the St. Johns.

4 these Bartram Sites is Satsuma Spring. Few sites afford so intimate a walk in the steps of William Bartram as this remote privately owned spring. We ve obtained permission to visit this gem that is, for many, the favorite of Putnam County s Bartram Sites. After visiting the spring, we ll head for Rodeheaver Boys Ranch where we will spend the night. Day 4/Monday, December 7: Rodeheaver Boys Ranch to Dunns Creek State Park Paddling Miles: 15 Today is our longest mileage paddle of the trip and, depending on the direction of the tidal flow in Dunn s Creek, may be the most challenging. We ll depart Rodeheaver Boys Ranch and head north (downstream). We ll pass by the ill-fated Cross Florida Barge Canal on the way to our first Bartram Trail Site at Stokes Landing. This is the site of the historic Spalding s Lower Store (BTS-13), which was Bartram s base of operations during his 1774 travels on the St. Johns. From here, we ll follow Bartram s route across the river, weaving through the Seven Sisters Islands (BTS-12) as he ferried the herd of untutored horses to pasture on the east shore, taking his only documented (albeit unanticipated) swim in the St. Johns River along the way. (We don t have to copy that part of his journey!) After passing under the railroad bridge at Buffalo Bluff, we ll pass by Murphy Island (BTS-11) and enter Dunns Creek (BTS-8), after which we ll stop for lunch at Georgia Boys Fish Camp, just past the Highway 17 Bridge across the creek. Tonight we ll camp at Dunns Creek State Park. Added to the state park system in 2001, this diamond in the rough has yet to be fully developed and is only partially open to the public. Encompassing 6,000 acres of sand pine scrub and sand hills, this park helps preserve the western shoreline of Dunns Creek in its natural state, much as it existed during Bartram s trip up the creek on January 26, Though the park has few amenities, you ll have the unique opportunity to experience a Florida State Park in its pre-development condition. Day 5/Tuesday, December 8: Dunns Creek State Park to Riverfront Park in Palatka Paddling Miles: 14-17, depending if side trip to Crescent Lake is chosen The landing at Dunn s Creek is 1.5 miles downstream of Crescent Lake. There are two Bartram Trail Sites on Crescent Lake (BTS-9), one near the mouth of the creek and the other on Bear Island (BTS-10) near Crescent City. Paddlers who wish to visit BTS-9 might consider rising early to paddle the 3-mile side trip before rejoining the group to head downstream. We will depart from Dunns Creek State Park and head back down the creek towards the St. Johns River, following the route of William and John Bartram as they navigated their battoe towards Rollestown on January 28, We ll stop again at Georgia Boys Fish Camp for lunch before returning to the St. Johns.

His 78,000-acre property extended from the northeast shoreline of Crescent Lake all the way to Federal Point north of Palatka.

5 We ll pass another Bartram Trail Site, that of Rollestown (BTS-7) in East Palatka along the way. This is the site of the failed settlement begun by Denys Rolle shortly after Great Brittan obtained Florida from the Spanish in 1760s. His 78,000-acre property extended from the northeast shoreline of Crescent Lake all the way to Federal Point north of Palatka. His vision of establishing a utopian commercial and humanitarian experiment by populating his town with indentured servants off the streets of London was a dismal failure when the settlers, unaccustomed to the subtropical climate and hard work, fled for more favorable habitation. The settlement all but disappeared by the time William returned to Florida in Leaving Rollestown, we ll enter historic Wilsons Cove as we head for the landing at Palatka s Riverfront Park. Though not a Bartram Trail Site, Wilsons Cove was the site of the Wilson Cypress Company based in Palatka at the turn of the 19 th century. By the time it closed in 1944, it was the second largest cypress mill in the world. Its closure coincided with the complete deforestation of the harvestable cypress within the St. Johns River watershed and most of north Florida. The last Bartram Trail Site we ll visit is our final destination at Riverfront Park in Palatka (BTS-4). You ll want to revisit the Bartram kiosk at the landing where, hopefully, you ll have gained a new appreciation for William Bartram and his St. Johns River adventure after living your own!

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