Alapaha River Run -
Jennings, FL
Memorial Day 2001
<Please click on any image to enlarge>
We camped at a
local farm within shooting distance of the Alapaha River. This tributary of the
Suwannee River
often runs dry in the summer, leaving open to the public a pristine white
sand riverbed with deep cuts at the riverbends, exposed rock gardens, and
surprisingly deep pools of springwater!
I had heard about a river in northern Florida that ran
underground in the summertime. The Alapaha river meets the Suwannee and
Withlacoochee rivers near Jennings, but runs underground in limerock tunnels.
Only when the water table is high does the water bubble up through the limerock
riverbed, forming pools that feed the surface flow. Unfortunately the water has
running cold and deep at the surface during our two earlier scouting trips in
the spring - nevertheless I marked prospective entry and exit points on the GPS
map. Public access is allowed near SR 6, and riding the river bed is allowed by
the county. However, climbing the high banks is forbidden and strictly enforced
- except along one small stretch along the Suwannee Water Management District.
Before last weekend's camping trip I had heard that the river was dry, and later
after dinner at camp I casually mentioned that it "may" make for a
good night ride.
Ten jeeps started out at 10:30 from the SR6 access -
the cloudless night, a full moon, and our off road lights made an eerie
lightshow illuminating the deep river gorge. A highway of pure white sand,
ground from the limerock, squeaked in the still night air with the pressure of
our shoes and tires. You could see where the current had washed away the sandy
bottom in the river bends, creating huge, steep funnel-shaped sinks with
limerock rocks and boulders below, and revealing towering pockmarked
limestone boulders on both sides. Several Jeeps forgot to air down, and either
bogged down in the deep sand or side-slid down the sandy slopes. It was
impossible to see how deep the next drop-off would be, or what laid just around
the bend. There were some sharp moments when the taillights of the Jeep in front
suddenly disappeared over a drop-off, seemingly falling off the end of the
world. We wisely avoided those small seemingly bottomless springs that were
at the bottom of these pits. The sandy bottom was almost six Jeeps wide in
places, and at times massive fallen oaks left only a small gap to squeeze
through.
We eventually reached the I-75 overpass - the highway
traffic roared a hundred feet above our heads; the water line on the bridge
trestles 70 feet above us. It was 12:30 am, but the cool night air and starry
night made nobody want to turn around. Everyone wanted to continue exploring
southward, towards the Suwannee Management area that I had earlier marked. As we
proceeded the riverbed changed from wide and meandering to narrow, deep, and
sharp. We played for a while at a stretch were the river had exposed a stair
stepped bedrock boulder and a rock garden with small deep spring pools. We were
still chattering about the fun when we began to encounter water....!
The
Ocala Jeep Club of Florida 
