Good Reads: Paddling the Sunshine State's Waterways
A new guidebook explores the creeks, rivers, and springs of Florida.
by Todd Keith
photography by Jason Wallis
A Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Florida
By Johnny Molloy, Elizabeth F. Carter,
John L. Pearce, Lou Glaros, and Doug Sphar
$16.95
Menasha Ridge Press
320 pages
The paddler who doesn’t need a quality guidebook either already knows
every river by heart and probably could write a guide, or is willing to spend
way too much time scouring some desolate backcountry road for the right put-in
point. For the rest of us, Johnny Molloy’s new book, A
Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Florida, serves as a reliable manual to throw into a dry bag when
we go on our next adventure. The waterways of the Sunshine State have never
had a better paddling advocate.
Combining and elaborating on the classic A Canoeing
and Kayaking Guide to the Streams of Florida, Volume I: North Central Peninsula
and Panhandle and Volume II: Central and South Peninsula, Molloy’s guidebook
provides a new starting point for anyone interested in exploring Florida’s
rivers, creeks, and springs. Divided into nine easy-to-navigate sections based
on geographical regions (for instance, chapters on Northwest Florida’s
western, central, and Big Bend areas feature a total of twenty-four rivers
and creeks), the book profiles each waterway with introductory material, a
solid description, and maps. It also includes data on river difficulty, length,
time to float, gauge, level, gradient, and, significantly, a scenery rating
from A to D based on the remote and scenic qualities of each particular run.
The guidebook’s introduction offers a complete overview of Florida’s
watersheds, weather, river gauges, and other such background information useful
to beginners and experts alike. For example, from the Alabama state line to
the Gulf of Mexico, land elevations in Florida run from as high as three hundred
feet to sea level in as little as fifty miles. Consequently, the steep grade
and the numerous terraces and ledges left by a receding sea over the past few
millennia make this area a haven for canoeists and kayakers. Combine that terrain
with more than three hundred springs feeding rivers and creeks throughout Florida,
and you have the perfect paddling environment.
Making it even easier to enjoy
such a setting, improved access to accurate U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) real-time
water-level readings is now available online for paddlers to check prior to
departing on trips. Molloy lists the website for the USGS readings, saying, “This
is the greatest thing for paddlers since dry bags were invented.” And
the guidebook does not skimp when it comes to details regarding shuttle put-ins
and take-outs, because a sullen five-mile hike back to civilization often can
make the difference between a fun trip and relative disaster.
Other items include a quick map index—an obvious yet often overlooked
component in many paddlers’ guides—as well as a thorough listing
of canoe and kayak liveries and their contact information. Beginners also will
appreciate the glossary of terms and the Safety Code of American Whitewater.
Perhaps the simplest, most important distinction of this new publication is
its maps. Recently updated, they are both visually attractive and clearly superior
to those found in most other guidebooks. Runs are broken into segments with
mileage; and highways, interstates, and minor roads are clearly identified.
This is one more detail proving that this manual was written by a paddler,
for a paddler. And that is probably the highest compliment one could give such
a book.