Big Shoals

Florida whitewater!

When you think about Florida’s rivers and streams, the image of raging, foaming water never springs to mind. Yet up on the Suwannee River, just a few miles outside the historic town of White Springs, the Suwannee hides a secret that canoeists and kayakers kept to themselves for many years—Big Shoals.

When first established, the Big Shoals Public Lands were jointly managed by Florida State Parks, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, and Florida State Forests. Now it’s Big Shoals State Park, but the Big Shoals Trail still leads you along the river’s edge to the showy whitewater, and continues to be designated under the Florida State Forests’ Trailwalker Program. Follow the yellow blazes and meander under hickories and laurel oaks past the old Godwin Bridge piers. Climbing up atop the river bluff, you have a view of the river framed by oaks and saw palmettos. Turn right to follow the trail as it weaves through the saw palmetto at the top of the bluff, providing sporadic panoramas of the calm black water below. A gnarled canopy of sparkleberry and sand live oaks shades your walk. You hear the muffled rumble of the rapids. The sound of rushing water amplifies with each footfall, increasing your anticipation.

After a mile, you reach a spot where the water below seems to be increasing in speed, flowing over submerged rocks. The air feels thick, saturated with the droplets of water kicked up by the rapids. Farther along, peer through a break in the trees for a glimpse of the river flowing through small chutes. Clinging to limestone perches, healthy growths of aquatic grasses create the green patches in the dark water. At the next overlook, you have a sweeping view of the rapids of the Big Shoals. At the base of the bluff, the largest rapid bubbles like cola out of a soda fountain as it tumbles over the rock ledges, creating hydraulics. Water roars through a series of chutes in the limestone ledge.