School started this week. Yikes. I can’t believe the summer flew by so fast – and while I can look back and see that we did a good bit and I did my best to balance fun with relaxing, it still didn’t seem long enough. But alas, time marches on and we are now back to schedules and lunch boxes and permission slips.

A few years ago we spent the Sunday before school started running around crazed, trying to do all the things, and do all the things at the last minute. Then we all went to bed feeling overwhelmed and sad we had wasted our last day of “freedom” busying ourselves with “readiness.”

So last year we left the crazy of the house, the grocery stores, Target, and all of it, and escaped to one of our favorite rivers for a relaxing day of canoeing. It was one of my favorite days. It was peaceful, secluded, gorgeous, and gave us a chance as a family to spend time together and also just take in nature as we contemplated new adventures about to begin.

With two returning to school and a new kindergartener, we sought to recreate the experience this year and turn last year’s success into a yearly tradition – and it did not disappoint.

Last year we rented two canoes through Chipola River Outfitters, who we highly recommend, but this year we brought our canoe and kiddo kayaks. We had planned to pay Chipola River Outfitters to portage the canoe and kayaks so we wouldn’t have to take two vehicles, but they don’t do that anymore, so we just loaded the boats on the minivan and Cody followed behind. We dropped Cody’s vehicle at our take-out point – Johnny Boy Landing – and then drove up to Peacock Bridge to put in the boats.

The two big kids used the kiddo kayaks while Cody and I were in the canoe with the two little guys. This was pretty big for us as it’s the first time Cody and I have been in the same canoe in years – once Jackson was born and we really couldn’t fit three babes in a canoe, we started just getting two canoes or kayaks and captaining one each.

I absolutely love being on the water with Cody and I can’t think of many places I’d rather be, but being on the water with him doesn’t necessarily equate to being in the same boat as him. It’s no secret we have a harried track record in canoes together – we’ve tipped many a vessel as we both steer opposite directions.

But we decided to give it another try now that we’re older and wiser. We started with me in the back and then switched half way so we both got a chance to “captain.” I have to admit it went well. Some of that may be owing to the river being fairly high (thus wide) and fast so there wasn’t too much paddling required, but we did great and that gave me hope for our future as more of the kids get to man their own boats.

After putting in at Peacock Bridge we headed downstream and within a few minutes ran into the only other people we saw the whole trip – a family doing some fishing near the bank. After exchanging greetings, it was only us for the next 6 miles and several hours. With the river high and fast, the paddling was easy – and often unnecessary altogether. But with all that extra water due to recent rains, we also had much murkier water than typical. There were still parts shallow enough to see the grass, but most of the river was a muddy brown instead of the usual clearer water.

But even with the water darker than usual, the river was gorgeous – a perfect day, warm enough to enjoy the water, but not so hot that you’re dying outside, a slight breeze, and a perfect sky (after getting poured on last week on the Itchetucknee River we were thrilled to avoid rain this time).

There is a spot roughly halfway on the left-hand side that has an awesome rope swing – it’s an excellent place for pulling the boats out of the water, having a little picnic, and of course, lots of rope swinging. It’s not huge, but still a nice little place for a break.

Just a little PSA – if you ever stop at one of these great pull-offs (on a river, on a road, on a hike), please for the love of all things, clean up after yourself. Whoever owns the land, be it public or private, allows these pull-offs as a courtesy and service to those traveling through – don’t be the reason the area is closed down due to misuse. We’ve seen far too many of these gracious landowners have to close areas due to reckless and rude visitors – don’t be that person! PSA over.

Here’s a video I made of the canoe trip, which includes lots of kids jumping off the rope swing. I’m not great at making videos, but I love watching them when I’m done and they’re easier than all those photo books (but I still have photo books on my “to do” list).

After exhausting ourselves on the rope swing and fueling up on lunch, we were off again down the river.

We took turns letting the kids use the kiddo kayaks. Colton and Ian paddled the most but even Jackson (5 years old) was able to get out there and get himself down the river for quite a bit. Nathan even got a turn to paddle (as we towed him behind the canoe), but it gave him some practice and he enjoyed it.

The river has some interesting caves once the banks turn from sand into more rock, however, we couldn’t see most of them with the high water. This is one of the caves that you can barely see – but you can tell if the water was lower, it would be a fun place to explore.

Around a few more bends and we arrived at our destination and a favorite swimming spot for the kids – Johnny Boy Landing. With the water so high and the current so swift, we couldn’t let them swim too far out into the river, but they had a great time racing down the spring run and jumping into the water.

The spring run that ends at Johnny Boy is a fun little stream to explore. I learned looking at the online map that the run is called Hollis Branch, though I’ve never heard anyone refer to it as that. It’s wooded and fun for the kids to chase the stream upriver. It seems to go a good ways back into the woods and looking at a map, it looks like it goes on for quite a ways.

The landing also has a rope swing but it wasn’t usable for the smaller kids so we stuck to just jumping into the water off the ledge.

Overall, a perfect day on the river – achieving the goal of sun, water, rest, and recharging before the hustle and bustle – and indoors – of school returns. If you’re in North Florida and looking for a more secluded river, you have to check out the Chipola River!

Chipola River

Peacock Bridge Landing (where we put in)

Johnny Boy Landing (our take-out)

For more information on paddling the Chipola River, check out the Chipola River Paddling Trail Guide.

If you’re interested in checking out the paddling gear we use, check out our Paddling Gear post!

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