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Telegraph Creek, south Florida

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We took off early one morning for a paddle on Telegraph Creek. The access is located just east of the town of Arcadia. There is a small parking area just east of the bridge on the south side of the road. There is a sign.

Not pristine wilderness, but we spent a pleasant several hours poking around.

The banks are lined with live oaks near the start.
TelegraphLiveOaks.JPGOakBranches.jpg

It had rained, so the resurrection fern was luxuriant. For those of you who don't know, resurrection fern is luxuriant when it rains; it is totally desiccated, curled up and brown when dry.
ResurrectionFern.JPG

Once you get up above the scattered vacation homes, the creek becomes wilder. Here there are cypress trees and royal ferns. Cypress trees are deciduous conifers. In lay terms: pine trees that lose their needles every year in the winter.
CypressandFerns.jpg


Brad did not see many fish until we got upstream of the buildings. Telegraph Creek connects to the Calusa River which connects to the Gulf. He expects there to be snook here. He may have seen some, but I don't remember. These are the ones I caught giving me fishie kisses.
LittleFishies.JPG

The banks were studded with coral bean, a native shrub attractive to hummingbirds.
CoralBean.JPG

Here is a large clump of royal fern perched on cypress knees. If I had managed to get the photos in the correct order, you would have already seen the cypress knees. But since I didn't, you'll have to wait for the last photo. Sorry!
RoyalFern.jpg

And here, we run out of water. It was quite shallow by this point anyway.
RunoutofWater.jpg

And here are the cypress knees. Brad thinks this creek may be tidal because in several places, the mud, limestone banks and knees were damp up about 2 feet from the water level. We had not had any recent rain to justify the higher water level. The growth of what I think are liverworts at the tops of the knees would also indicate a high water line.
CypressKnees.jpg
 
Great day trip report and pictures, Erica. Oh, how I miss paddling (and living) in Florida. Hope to be there at the end of May.

I planted a cypress tree here in Connecticut 20 years ago and it has thrived. I have knees growing around the base, which I sometimes hit with my mower.
 
Thanks for the contribution, E.

I enjoy “poke around” trips and may try to find Telegraph Creek next time I’m around there.
 
Having trouble finding the put in on Google maps.. Any hints at something commercial nearby. It's on my next trip to FL list..
 
Wow. Thanks for sharing. May I ask how the temperature or humidity is there on that paddle? I seem to putter out with the heat.
 
Hello and thank you for the nice comments.

Yc: https://www.leegov.com/parks/preserves/telegraphcreek I didn't know there was any "official" website, but here you go. It's not gonna be anywhere near as nice as, for example, Fisheating Creek. But for poking around for a few hours, it is fine.

coldfeet: It is warm and humid in south Florida. We got on the water around 8am and it was (for Florida) quite pleasant. And much of the river is shady. But coming out around 11 am, I noticed the heat.
 
Loved your pictures Erica! My wife, dog Jake and I just returned from being near that area…Punta Gorda. We spent a lot of time around Cayo Costa state park in the gulf.

Great write up.

Bob
 
Beautiful pictures, and an area I will probably never see. You're description of the Cypress trees had me googling to see if they were related to Tamarac. Apparently all they share in common is the shedding of needles in the fall. Thanks for posting this report!
 
Wish I knew about this trip opportunity years ago. My late in-laws were snow birds in Arcadia and went there for years. We paddled on the Peace and at Myakka River State Park but never on the Telegraph. I'll have to keep this in mind if we ever go back there. Thanks for sharing!

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
My husband pointed out some errors in my report. Deep apologies.

Telegraph Creek is near Alva, FL (not Arcadia.) Same general area.

Telegraph Creek flows into the Caloosahatchee River (not the Calusa River)

I get details like this mixed up from time to time. Sorry!
 
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