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Canoeing & Kayaking

Santa Fe River at River Rise State Park, Florida, USA
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Copyright 2001 Alfonso Vazquez-Cuervo - See Terms of Use

Our Route Summary

  • Submitted by: Al Vazquez, alvazquez@kayakguide.com
  • Date Submitted: 7/2001
  • Location: 20 miles northwest of Gainesville, 8 miles northwest of Alachua, 1 mile nor of High Springs on Route 441 / 41 / 25
  • Class: Typically flat water river with some current
  • Distance Paddled: We paddled about 3 miles round trip upstream until we were blocked by water plants as far as the eye could see
  • Water Level: typically not affected too much by low water drought conditions elsewhere, but water conditions can allow water plants to clog the stream
  • Water: fresh
  • Wildlife: turtles, gorgeous trees, water plants, numerous birds
  • Special Regulations:

Entry and Exit

  • Directions: From Gainesville, take Interstate 75 north. Just past Alachua, exit onto Route 441 / 20 / 25 northwest to High Springs. Stay on Route 441 / 41 / 25 north to the bridge over the river about 1 mile north of town. The put in and parking are on the north west side of the bridge. There is also a canoe livery on the southwest side of the bridge.
  • Fee: none
  • Description: dirt slope
  • Parking: adjacent unpaved
  • Facilities: none there, but there are some at High Springs
  • Handicap Access: none

What We Saw

The Santa Fe is one of a number of spring fed rivers in north western Florida. These rivers sometimes disappear into underground flows only to reappear downstream in a spring. River Rise State Park is at such a point where the Santa Fe reappears from underground.

Our intent was to paddle upstream about 3 miles into the state park as far as we could get and hopefully see the spring and park.

Because the water level was a little low, we took care to miss shallow rocks in the river bottom by staying toward the main channel, which was easy. Splendid trees like those at left formed a welcoming cover as we explored the Santa Fe.
We passed a couple of cabins on our left (river right), but other than that, this part of the Santa Fe had a remote feel to it. Along the way, we saw several turtles and birds and an increasing number of water plants.
A sign signaled our entrance into the state park about a mile up river.

We rounded a bend and were met with a beautiful, but disappointing surprise; a sea of purple blossomed water plants as far as the eye could see. A couple of minutes of paddling through these was enough to convince us to call it a day.

We then headed downstream past the put in toward another takeout point to the west of High Springs on Route 20 / 27, but once again, were met be a sea of water plants only 1 half mile downstream of the put in.

It was a beautiful paddle, but we hope we can return someday when the plants no longer guard the park so well.