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The Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail

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Aug 22, 2020
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Tallahassee, Fl
Have any of you guys paddled on the Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail? I am not yet venturing far from home during this pandemic, but the trail is not all that far from home (<6 hours) so it is a reasonable range for when I start to venture further. It sounds like it just might be something that might tempt my wife into joining me depending on the choices made in trip planning. It has been a quite a few years since she has camped, but she shown some interest. We backpacked and did some multiday canoe tripping together decades ago. I am not sure what she will want to do now and don't think she really does either so we will probably need to take some baby steps ahead of any big trips to be sure that they are not going to be a disaster.

Barring all of that it looks like a place we could stay in a room and do enjoyable day paddling that she would be able to enjoy.

I'd be curious what kind of trips you took there and how they went. It sounds like there is a pretty wide range of possibilities.
 
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Pine Island isn't built up but the rest is save for the river up near Alva
We stayed at Matlatcha for a week because of repairs on the road. We paddled a bit out of there but the city is everywhere. For us this was hard as we had just finished 10 days in the Everglades which was so much better.
 
Pine Island isn't built up but the rest is save for the river up near Alva
We stayed at Matlatcha for a week because of repairs on the road. We paddled a bit out of there but the city is everywhere. For us this was hard as we had just finished 10 days in the Everglades which was so much better.

I did some paddling in the Everglades years back including some beach and chickee camping and it was great. The only thing I didn't care for was the need to be on a schedule due to having to reserve the campsites. I am not sure if my wife can manage to get in and out of the canoe at a chickee so we might have to do beach camping if in the Everglades. I don't remember how possible it was to string together a trip that way. An overnight out and back or couple nights would certainly be do-able.

It sounds like Calusa Trail may be more developed than I thought, but it may still be of interest for getting my wife out on the water though.
 
I did some paddling in the Everglades years back including some beach and chickee camping and it was great. The only thing I didn't care for was the need to be on a schedule due to having to reserve the campsites. I am not sure if my wife can manage to get in and out of the canoe at a chickee so we might have to do beach camping if in the Everglades. I don't remember how possible it was to string together a trip that way. An overnight out and back or couple nights would certainly be do-able.

It sounds like Calusa Trail may be more developed than I thought, but it may still be of interest for getting my wife out on the water though.

If you launch from Everglades City and going Northwest out of the park all the campsites are first come first serve.

https://www.floridarambler.com/flori...usand-islands/

However the shortest paddle is to Jewel in the park. If bad weather happens and the rangers stop by and you are "off permit" they put safety over rules. Chickees all have ladders now so we just have a snug up to the ladder system that keeps the ladder side of the boat higher than the other. Keeping all our weight on the ladder side we can stand up in our boats and climb the ladder. That said chickee camping is cramped at best.

Why drive so far? We love paddling around Cedar Key. While there is no camping on the many islands Levy County has a campground at Shell Mound. We have also stayed "in town" and done day paddles. Seahorse and Atsena Otie Keys are glorious.

Misspoke. There actually is some camping . Hall Creek Campsite. 10 miles from Shell Mound so about five from the Number 4 bridge to Cedar Key.. Tides here rule. What is water at high tide requires seeking water not mud at low. There is a channel but its not marked
https://floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/Seg_6_text_CT_1.pdf
 
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