Paddle Trip on the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers.

The Silver River is one of the most beautiful spring fed rivers in Florida. It’s crystal clear waters and surrounding forests are filled with wildlife and because of the regular paddle and boat traffic, most of the animals and birds are used to humans so it gives you a great opportunity to see Florida wildlife up close. The Ocklawaha is a more “wild” river. The water is dark, the wildlife is skittish and it’s littered with downed trees and obstacles that challenge your skills as a paddler and in many cases require you to portage your boat.

Dave and a couple of friends took a paddle camping trip on the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers. The weather was clear but the temperatures were cold. Overnight lows were in the low to mid 30’s and the highs never rose above 60 degrees. To the rest of the world, those temperatures are not cold, but to Floridians, it might as well be the Arctic.

Here are the pictures from the trip. They launched at Ray Wayside park and paddled up to the well spring of the Silver then turned around and paddled downstream into the Ocklawaha.

Click here to see video of trip: Video

 

 

The scenery was gorgeous.

They encountered lots of wild birds along the way.

 

And turtles…

 

More birds.

 

Monkees.

 

And Manatees.

 

Then they reached Silver Springs.

 

They paddled back down river to the Ocklawaha.

The next day they paddled 18 miles down river to Eureka. They saw alligators.

More birds.

And an orange tree alone in the forrest.

 

They ended their trip after 29 miles at the Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost.

 

We hope you have enjoyed this trip with us down the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers. If you have paddled these rivers, let us know in the comment section. If you would like to join us on future trips, contact us.

 

Find your headwaters,

Jaucque and Dave