The Florida Trail 〣 Suwannee River

by Marissa Nieddu | Jan 26, 2022

It’s been nine long months since my girls and I have been on trail together. Life got a little crazy for everyone in the second half of last year, but we finally found our way back to the trail together. We’ve been hearing about the Suwannee section of the Florida Trail from everyone, so naturally that was the next place on our list!

We started the morning at American Canoe Adventures in White Springs where we parked our cars and shuttled to our trailhead. The Big Oak Trailhead was honestly kind of a rough area along a dirt road, but in less than a mile we were on the trail walking along the river.

Over the next 3 days the river was our beautiful friend. It’s dark waters were mesmerizing as is wound through the dry Florida forest. We hiked through the trees, across sandy river banks, and over the spring-fed streams that flow into the river.

Holton Creek River Camp was our home for the first night. Talk about being spoiled! This camp had restrooms with hot water and campsites with covered, screened-in platforms complete with electricity and ceiling fans. We didn’t get to enjoy those fans since it’s January and 32°F that night.

Our second night was on a high bluff in woods. It was a wonderful wide-open space with plenty of room for all seven of us and our tents. I love the primitive nights with these women. It’s more private and for a few hours it feels like we are the only ones in the world. We built a fire, cooked dinner, drank some bourbon + hot cocoa, and opened-up about our dreams and struggles these last few months. It was a much needed break from the real-world with an amazing group of bad-ass women.

This is our 3rd section hike on the FT together and I think we all agreed that Suwannee was our favorite section so far!

Want to hike this route yourself? Click here for trip details!