You hear them well before you can see them: a burble of water that rises to a roar as you approach the Big Shoals of the Suwannee River, Florida’s largest series of rapids complete with hydraulics and holes and Class III whitewater at certain times of year.
Cedar Key
Perhaps the most popular getaway on Florida’s Nature Coast, Cedar Key is at the end of a 24-mile highway that follows a railroad bed which naturalist John Muir walked.
Chiefland
Not far from where the Suwannee River flows out into the Gulf of Mexico, Chiefland is a major community with access to public lands along the Suwannee River and Goethe State Forest.
Fanning Springs State Park
One of the Suwannee River’s largest swimming holes is the clear, cool reflecting pool of Fanning Springs, located along the edge of its namesake town.
Hart Springs
A beauty spot along the Suwannee River north of Fanning Springs, Hart Springs offers swimming, hiking, camping, and cave diving in a rural setting near Trenton.
Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
Lafayette Blue Springs was an old swimming hole for folks in Mayo and the rural communities west of Live Oak, a hidden beauty spot along the Suwannee River that is now a state park.
Lake City
With the Suwannee River to the north and Osceola National Forest to the east, Lake City is a hub for hiking, paddling, and off-road biking along the Suwannee basin.
Live Oak
A historic city in rural North Florida, Live Oak is circled by the Suwannee River to the north, south, and west, about a 20 minute drive in each direction.
Madison
Nestled against the Georgia border, the easternmost corner of Northwest Florida is Madison County, with its county line defined on one side by the Suwannee River.
Madison Blue Spring State Park
A long-time Old Florida swimming hole along SR 6 between the towns of Lee and Jasper, Madison Blue Spring is a sinkhole pouring out a first-magnitude spring into the Withlacoochee River.