Paddling the Alafia River

All photos are clickable for a larger view.

Before launching, we set up the shuttle by leaving our vehicles at Miss Sybil’s at Alafia River Canoe Rentals for a small parking fee. That made the canoe-rental property our actual takeout for the day. From there we drove upstream to Alderman’s Ford Conservation Park, launched the kayaks, and pointed them downstream. Almost immediately the river closed in around us beneath a canopy of live oaks, cypress and palms.

The upper Alafia is narrow and wonderfully twisty, so the scenery changes around every bend. Huge live-oak limbs reach from bank to bank, Spanish moss hangs over the water, and the kayaks seem tiny beneath the trees. With everyone strung out along the channel, the bright boats made a colorful procession through a landscape that still feels like old Florida.

There is enough current on this section to keep the trip moving without turning it into a race. At ordinary water levels you can spend plenty of time looking around, talking with the paddlers behind you, and letting the river do some of the work. It is a very different feeling from paddling a broad bay or lake, because the river is always steering you toward the next corner.

The designated paddling run between Alderman’s Ford and Lithia Springs is often described as roughly ten miles, although the river’s endless bends make it feel longer on a map and shorter while you are actually enjoying it. Most of the route passes through wooded conservation lands, with only occasional reminders that the Tampa Bay suburbs are not very far away.

This is not a river where you simply point the kayak straight ahead for miles. The channel bends constantly around trees, roots and sandy banks. Fallen limbs sometimes narrow the passage even more, and everyone naturally falls into a single line while choosing a clean route through. That little bit of maneuvering is part of what makes the Alafia such an entertaining paddle.

One of the nicest parts of a warm Florida river trip is finding a shallow spot where the group can stop, stretch and cool off. The Alafia has sandy shallows mixed among its deeper pools and wooded bends. A break in the water is also a chance for everyone to regroup before continuing downstream.

With the boats pulled nearby, the river becomes the gathering place. These stops are as much a part of a group paddle as the miles themselves—time to talk, laugh, compare notes about the river, and enjoy being surrounded by woods instead of traffic and pavement. Then, one by one, everyone climbs back into the kayaks and starts downstream again.

The river repeatedly alternates between bright openings and deeply shaded tunnels. Sunlight flashes across the water in one bend, then the next corner is almost completely roofed by oak branches and Spanish moss. That changing light gives the Alafia much of its character and makes almost every turn look like another photograph waiting to happen.

At normal levels this stretch is generally an easy-to-moderate downstream run, but it has more personality than many Florida rivers. Limestone shoals and shallow spots can add a few scrapes and little drops, especially when the water is low. At higher levels the same narrow bends can carry noticeably faster current, so the river is never exactly the same trip twice.

The vegetation is the constant backdrop: cypress, sabal palms, oaks and thick understory crowding both banks. Spanish moss hangs from the branches in long curtains, and exposed roots reach into the river. In places the forest feels almost enclosed around the boats, with only a ribbon of water showing the way forward.

Every so often the river opens enough for the group to spread out and pause together. Those wider places are good spots to rest without blocking the channel and to wait for anyone who has fallen behind. On a social paddle, there is no reason to hurry; the entire point is to enjoy the river and the people sharing it.

Once underway again, the current carries the boats from one bend to the next. There are long moments when almost the only sounds are paddle blades entering the water, birds in the trees and the soft rush of current around submerged branches. It is remarkable how wild the river can feel while still being close enough to make this an easy day trip from the Tampa Bay area.

The big cypress and hardwood trees are what give this section its sense of place. Their trunks anchor the banks while their branches create shade across the channel. Around some bends the water is broad and calm; around others it squeezes between trees and shoals. That variety keeps the entire run interesting.

Fallen wood is a natural part of a river like this. Most obstacles leave an obvious passage, but they still require everyone to pay attention to current, boat spacing and paddle placement. A little obstacle that would barely be noticed on land can become the feature everyone remembers from a particular bend in the river.

By this point in the trip the group has settled into an easy rhythm. Some paddlers move ahead, others stop to photograph the scenery, and then everyone gathers again a few bends later. The narrow channel keeps the group connected even when the boats are spread out, because you are rarely more than a turn or two from the paddlers ahead.

Farther downstream, the same ingredients continue to make the Alafia special: tea-colored water, towering trees, bright patches of sun and deep green shade. There are few obvious landmarks, so distance is measured more by bends, shoals and memorable trees than by miles. The river itself becomes the itinerary.

Eventually we reached our takeout at Miss Sybil’s — Alafia River Canoe Rentals on River Drive. Because we had left our vehicles there before the paddle for a small fee, the shuttle worked perfectly: we could pull the boats out, load up, and finish the day right where the vehicles were waiting. Alafia River Canoe Rentals has long been associated with paddling and shuttle logistics on this section of the river, and on this trip it was the practical downstream endpoint we needed.