| Water Level Planning Guidelines |
| Suwannee Canoe Outpost |
How do you know if the Suwannee has enough water to do the
trip you want? The recent drought, said to be the worst since 1958,
lowered water levels from May 2006 to August 2007, but here's an easy
guide so you can see at a glance if your trip will be OK:
1. For upper-river trip planning, we use the Suwannee River Water
Management's water level info from the White Springs, FL measuring
station for reference. You can see that info page here.
2. Based on the recent drought, we have determined the following water
level guidelines for upper-river trips:
>52 feet: All trips open, from Fargo, GA to the Gulf.
Big Shoals still not runnable at this level (too low).
(We never recommend running Big Shoals
anyway.)
51-52 feet: Some low-water hazards above I-75; proceed with
caution. Trouble areas: Roline boat ramp to Cone
Bridge boat ramp; Big/Little Shoals.
The river is generally fine in nearly all areas.
50-51 feet: Trips above Cone Bridge boat ramp not recommended.
Some possibly nasty areas from Roline boat ramp to
Cone Bridge boat ramp and from Big Shoals to Stephen
Foster State Park below White Springs.
<50 feet: Trips above I-75 not recommended; day trips affected,
too.
(All of our day trips begin below I-75.)
Notes: Fargo is about 67 miles up river from the Canoe Outpost.
Roline boat ramp is about 53 miles up river.
Cone Bridge boat ramp is about 38 miles up river.
Big Shoals is about 27 miles up river.
The U.S. 41 boat ramp at White Springs is about 22
miles up river.
Stephen Foster State Park (FL) is about 19 miles up
river.
I-75 is about 13 miles up river.
3. At 50 feet, we stop putting our canoes above I-75 because of possible
damage.
4. At no time during this drought did we have to stop doing trips from our
location (roughly US129) down river, but in some spots the river was only
a few inches deep at the worst point of the drought.
5. Beach camping on the river is pretty sweet at these water levels!
6. We also recommend Bill Logan's excellent Suwannee river camping
site.
7. We try to get on the river ourselves as much as possible so we can
give you eyes-on information about river conditions, including the
Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers. Call us when in doubt, or for
more information, at 386-364-4991.
trip you want? The recent drought, said to be the worst since 1958,
lowered water levels from May 2006 to August 2007, but here's an easy
guide so you can see at a glance if your trip will be OK:
1. For upper-river trip planning, we use the Suwannee River Water
Management's water level info from the White Springs, FL measuring
station for reference. You can see that info page here.
2. Based on the recent drought, we have determined the following water
level guidelines for upper-river trips:
>52 feet: All trips open, from Fargo, GA to the Gulf.
Big Shoals still not runnable at this level (too low).
(We never recommend running Big Shoals
anyway.)
51-52 feet: Some low-water hazards above I-75; proceed with
caution. Trouble areas: Roline boat ramp to Cone
Bridge boat ramp; Big/Little Shoals.
The river is generally fine in nearly all areas.
50-51 feet: Trips above Cone Bridge boat ramp not recommended.
Some possibly nasty areas from Roline boat ramp to
Cone Bridge boat ramp and from Big Shoals to Stephen
Foster State Park below White Springs.
<50 feet: Trips above I-75 not recommended; day trips affected,
too.
(All of our day trips begin below I-75.)
Notes: Fargo is about 67 miles up river from the Canoe Outpost.
Roline boat ramp is about 53 miles up river.
Cone Bridge boat ramp is about 38 miles up river.
Big Shoals is about 27 miles up river.
The U.S. 41 boat ramp at White Springs is about 22
miles up river.
Stephen Foster State Park (FL) is about 19 miles up
river.
I-75 is about 13 miles up river.
3. At 50 feet, we stop putting our canoes above I-75 because of possible
damage.
4. At no time during this drought did we have to stop doing trips from our
location (roughly US129) down river, but in some spots the river was only
a few inches deep at the worst point of the drought.
5. Beach camping on the river is pretty sweet at these water levels!
6. We also recommend Bill Logan's excellent Suwannee river camping
site.
7. We try to get on the river ourselves as much as possible so we can
give you eyes-on information about river conditions, including the
Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers. Call us when in doubt, or for
more information, at 386-364-4991.
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