The Withlacoochee River

by Herb Allen

"...the tame, lovely and under-utilized Withlacoochee River remains a rare and undiscovered jewel to many inveterate Florida residents and visitors."

Central Florida's beautiful Withlacoochee River.

Folks looking for a pleasant fishing, hunting, camping or nature excursion in a wild and pristine setting will find few rivers in America that rival the beautiful Withlacoochee.

During extreme wet periods, it has been known to spill over its banks and flood surrounding countryside. In exceptional draught conditions, portaging over sand bars is often obligatory, even with shallow-draft aluminum jonboats and canoes.

Mostly, however, the tame, lovely and under-utilized Withlacoochee River remains a rare and undiscovered jewel to many inveterate Florida residents and visitors.

With headwaters in the Green Swamp in northern Polk County, the Withlacoochee meanders 156 miles north and east, eventually flowing into the Gulf of Mexico near the picturesque community of Yankeetown.

Green Swamp, by the way, gives rise to three other major Florida rivers; the Peace, Oklawaha, and Hillsborough. Many of the lands bordering lengthy stretches of the Withlacoochee are privately owned, thus giving it a remoteness and sense of inaccessibility. Canoes afford the most practical and scenic mode to view and explore the comely waterway.

Its name comes from the Seminole Indian word meaning Little Great Water, a seeming contradiction that somehow manages to speak eloquently of the Withlacoochee.

A flat, glassy river surface mirrors the thick, green tangles of cypress, oak, ash and cedar boughs overhanging the banks. The tea-colored water is rich in tannic acid generated by rotting swamp vegetation.

Turtles sun themselves on logs, alligators poke snouts above shallow waters before sinking quietly beneath the surface and usually blue and unclouded skies are an aviary of both common and rare birdlife. Bird watchers can focus on an osprey, but quickly find their attention challenged by great blue and white herons, a rare wood stork or an endangered purple gallinule.

In winter, the river is host to a myriad of migratory waterfowl, while surrounding forest land is home to just about every specie of wildlife native to the Sunshine State, including deer, bear, bobcat, an occasional rare Florida panther, coyote, raccoon, otter, opossum, turkey, fox, wild hog and innumerable squirrels.

Archaeologists from the University of Florida at Gainesville are frequently seen digging through a mound at the river's edge looking for Indian artifacts.

From its headwaters, the Withlacoochee's first 10 miles are virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding Green Swamp. As it flows westward before turning north, it passes through Dade City, Lacoochee, Dunnellon, the Withlacoochee State Forest and, finally, into a Gulf of Mexico estuary near Yankeetown and Inglis.

Naturalists say the river and bordering swampland thrive in symbiotic partnership, nourishing one another along the river's passage. Rock mining and timber operations once flourished along the Withlacoochee's banks but, thankfully, are now gone. Recreation, fishing, and hunting are now the river's major industries.

Other than for a few flood control structures, the river channel has been altered only near the Gulf where the Inglis Dam was built for power generation in 1903. Today, however, the hydroelectric plant has been abandoned and the remaining Lake Rousseau (formerly called the Withlacoochee Backwater) is managed for fishing and other recreational activities.

Although the river once served as a dumping site for municipal sewage and industrial waste, it's now rated as one of the state's cleanest streams and its purity is jealously guarded by the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

The Withlacoochee State Forest was recently called one of the "Top 10 Coolest Places You've Never Seen in North America" by the World Wildlife Fund.

Covering 144,000 acres in Hernando, Sumter, Citrus, Pasco, and Lake counties, the forest has numerous trails for hikers, mountain bikers, motorcyclists, and horseback riders. Many riverside picnic areas and campgrounds are nestled amid the forests and rolling hills.

Anglers enjoy outstanding bass fishing. Bream, catfish and chain pickerel often crash the party. In the brackish and marshy areas near the Gulf, you can present a well-placed lure or streamer fly to redfish, spotted trout, black drum, tarpon, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, cobia and a host of other fish.

Several motels and most fish camps dotting the river have boat launching ramps. Campgrounds are numerous and scenic for those traveling with an RV or tent.

Those wanting more information have several contact options. Here are a few:

Dunnellon Area Chamber of Commerce, 352-489-2320

Trail's End Fish Camp at Floral City, 352-726-3699

Canoe Outpost at Nobleton for airboat rides, canoe and boat rentals, 800-783-5284

Pana Vista Lodge on Lake Panasoffkee, 352-793-2061

Copyright © 1999 Herb Allen. All rights reserved.