Ichetucknee
Weeds of Eden (Gainesville Locals)
River of Love
((( “Drifting” )))
By Lori Campbell
Alligator Writer
After a hectic summer, the lazy Ichetucknee River relaxes. Though she meanders along at the same sleepy pace year-round, cool weather has lifted her burden of bank to bank tubers.
But autumn months are the best tiimes of year to frolic in the Ichetucfknee because the crowds are thinner and the water temperature is the same as in the summer, park manager Randy Hester said.
You don’t have to bump elbows going down, and the chance to see wildlife is greater.”
The spring-fed river stays between 72 and 75 degrees year round, but be forewarned, even in the dead of summer, 72 degrees can feel so cold that it hurts.
UF senior Bill Blalock agreed that September and October are the best times to visit the Ichetucknee.
It’s gorgeous. There’s no one here. It’s virtually undisturbed.”
Blalock goes to the Ichetucknee a few times
a month. He drags inner tubes along when he and his friends snorkle. When they get chilled, they lay in the tubes and the sun warms them.
Indeed, the sky-blue water and surrounding vegetation make the Ichetucknee a nature-lover’s paradise. Cypress trees, several varieties of oaks, and aquatic grass (Vallisneria Americana) line the river bank. Turtles and birds bask in the sun atop moss-covered logs, jutting out of the clear, cool water.
It’s the Ichetucknee’s slow and gentle current that makes it such a popular spot for “tubing” – the leisurely sport of floating down a lazy river on a sun-warmed, black rubber inner tube.
The current flows about 2 mph, slow enough to be relaxing, and fast enough to not have to paddle. No rough spots or rapids, only gentle bends, turning from one natural canopied run to the next.
Tubers can gaze down at the fish gazing up at them through the crystal-clear depths. Grassy vegetation and limestone rocks rise out of the sugar white sand that carpets the Ichetucknee’s bed. The more keen observer is likely to spot alligators, snakes, turtles, birds, and maybe the occassional otter.
Though snakes and alligators make the Ichetucknee their home, tubers need not worry about having their rear-ends taken off.
All are content, and don’t mind the peaceful visitors passing them by in their donut-style rafts.
During more busy, college celebratory weekends, though, the atmosphere does experience a disturbance. Delirious tubers are known to have sung a warped tune or two.
“Row, row, row your tube/ gently down the river/ Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily/ beer is good for your liver.”
There’s no drinking allowed on the river, but that doesn’t dampen the mood, or stop the spirited from singing about it.
Tubers can take two different routes. The short route, starting at the south end of the park, takes about an hour and a half. The long route, starting at the north end, takes four hours.
Inner tubes can be rented for a minimal amount at various shops just outside of the park.
Hester recommended tubers wear swimsuits and leave watches and jewelry at home. And ads jokingly, “and the cutoffs with the conspicuous holes the more intimate moments between friends.”
In October, park rangers lead discovery trips, hiking, canoeing, and snorkeling throughout the park. The tours are reservation only, and the park asks for four weeks notice.
The park closes in the event that 3,000 people show up, but that rarely happens in the off-season, Hester said.
Tubers can eat at designated picnic areas before and after, but not during their excursion, and as said, alcoholic beverages are prohibited.
Blalock did admit to, in the past, having snuck beer onto the river, but with care, and he understands the rule, and has harsh words for those who wantonly litter the Ichetucknee. “There’s nothing worse than being down there (scuba diving), exploring, and being attracted to what you think might be “treasure,” and it winds up being a beer can pop top, or some other sort of thoughtless trash.
—30—
Tunnel of Love
(Fort White Rendezvous)
In the 1940s the Ichetucknee River was a popular meeting spot for men at the University of Florida, and women at Florida State University. Fort White, where visitors enter the river, is half way between Gainesville (UF) and Tallahassee (FSU).
((( >>> )))
joe burbank
Ichetucknee Springs reside four miles northwest of Fort White, Fla. (State Road 47 / State Road 238) and feed the 6-mile-long (9.7 km) Ichetucknee River, which flows through shaded hammocks and wetlands into the Santa Fe River. The park contains hardwood hammock and limestone outcrops. Like many rivers in this part of North Florida, the Ichetucknee is fed by natural springs which boil up (in various holes) from the aquifer.
FIRST TO TUBE — Approaching Fort White, the roadside shops (kiosks) became more frequent. Like bait shops, but rather than shrimp and worms, they’re selling florescent colored inner tubes. Displays, listing their low-priced rental options, for those first time or occasional visitors to the Ichetucknee Springs and River. Driving past the kitschy entrance, the road into Fort White becomes more pleasant. Moss-covered oaks welcome visitors to the quiet little town, where the Ichetucknee River resides. The many surrounding springs are jewels in the North Florida crown.
“Real” Florida, as it was decades before. OLD GUYS SITTING OUT FRONT OF A LONG-CLOSED GAS STATION. ONE SLOW-BLINKING, YELLOW (CAUTION) LIGHT, HANGING SLACK, FROM THE STATION TO THE LARGE, ABANDONED, WOOD BARN. … BEHIND THE OLD FRIENDS, THE GARAGE WAS FILLED WITH COAL BLACK, OLD SCHOOL INNER TUBES. FRIENDS SINCE THEY WERE KIDS, WHEN ONE’S FATHER RAN THE STATION, AND WAS THE FIRST “TUBER.” A FEW GUYS FROM UF (1945) WHO WERE MEETING FSU GIRLS THEY HAD MET THE WEEKEND BEFORE, THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO USE THE TUBES ON THE RIVER. DAD AGREED, RENTED THEM TUBES (DOLLAR FOR THE DAY), AND THE LONGTIME, NORTH FLORIDA LOVER’S LANE TRADITION WAS BORN.]
DAY TRIPPING (#1.)
Cassadaga and other mysteries in Florida’s interior
DAY TRIPPING (#2.)
Weeki Wachee (SR50) The Road Through Florida Space & Time
EARTHRISE
Where I Come From
SPACE COAST
Home Is Where The Rockets Fly
NAKED LAUNCH
Pretty As A Florida Picture
ORANGES
Indian River Fruit
ORANGES (CONT’D)
A BEACH FOR ALL SEASONS
SPACE COAST (NASA) TIMELINE
road trips
FLORIDA SUGAR: HOW SWEET IS IT?
EXTRA! (PG3)
Sugar (Raw Alternative)
“ON THE ROAD“ WITH CHARLES KURALT
Wakulla Springs to the Moon.
SUWANNEE RIVER (GHOST STORIES)
SUWANNEE RIVER (BLUEGRASS) RIVER
MAYPORT (JAZZ)
THE POLICE (ROADTRIP TO TOMMORROW)
DIRE STRAITS (VINNY’S NIGHT IN JACKSONVILLE)
ROLLING STONES (TANGERINE BOWL)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (TICKET QUEST)
Rendezvous
Wet Willie
((( Lovers’ Lane )))
Ichetucknee
Weeds of Eden
Gainesville Locals
((( Lovers’ Lane )))
Drift Away
Ike & Tina Turner
In the 1940s the Ichetucknee River was a popular meeting spot for men at the University of Florida, and women at Florida State University. Fort White, where visitors enter the river, is half way between Gainesville (UF) and Tallahassee (FSU)
((( >> )))
road trips
FLORIDA SUGAR: HOW SWEET IS IT?
EXTRA! (PG3)
Sugar (Raw Alternative)
“ON THE ROAD“ WITH CHARLES KURALT
Wakulla Springs to the Moon.
SUWANNEE RIVER (GHOST STORIES)
SUWANNEE RIVER (BLUEGRASS) RIVER
MAYPORT (JAZZ)
THE POLICE (ROADTRIP TO TOMMORROW)
DIRE STRAITS (VINNY’S NIGHT IN JACKSONVILLE)
ROLLING STONES (TANGERINE BOWL)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (TICKET QUEST)
