Withlacoochee River -

This was part of Mariam and Ken's multi-day Ft. Cooper camping adventure.

Mariam and Ken held a day trip up the Withlacoochee River from the Dunnellon city boat ramp to about 5 miles up river and back. The first thing you notice as you launch is the crystal clear waters of the Withlacoochee. The Rainbow River has considerable influence, especially since there have been minimal rainfall recently. But even beyond the Rainbow outflow, the Withlacoochee is relatively clear, lacking in tannin as most long rivers of Florida typically possess. There were four of us in the group: Ken, Mariam, Jane from Canada and Clark.

The first 2 miles of the river are exceptionally interesting as there are numerous high banks as though the river flows through some hills. We explored one cove where the banks where 30 to 40 foot above the river; it was like a major sink hole, crater, or a flooded quarry (which is not unreasonable considering the history of phosphate mining in this region). The river had a few homes the first couple of miles, then thinned out to a few once in a while on the Citrus County side only. Ken and I were scouting out camping sites along the way. The river is fickle in the lower sections as there are numerous coves, islands that cause the river to split, and it narrows and widens frequently.

The further up river you go, the more swampy the surrounding land becomes; yet at the river's current height, there were still numerous places to get out, often the shores were sandy and firm. At about the 4 mile mark, Ken and Clark went ashore to explore the high banks to see if they were flat and suitable for camping. We did discover this to be true.

After 3 hours of upstream travel, we headed back. The small group still provided great conversation and plenty of camaraderie. Jane is new to the group and was discovering options for the diversity of outdoor activities she enjoys.

We returned short of 5 hours as the late afternoon sun began dipping in a partly cloudy day. One gator, several turtles, ibis, limpkins, vultures, ospreys, and very few humans. It was a treasure of a day.

Host: Mariam Mohsenin and Ken Knapton