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Florida

Kayaking North Florida’s Sacred Springs & Rivers

Program No. 23541RJ

Kayak along North Florida’s artesian springs and rivers, learning about sustainability, conservation and ecology from the locals who advocate to protect the crystal-clear waters.

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Protecting the Environment

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6 days

5 nights

12 meals

5B 3L 4D

Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Intro to North Florida

Gainesville, Florida

Florida Springs Institute, Paddle Down Ichetucknee River

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Kayak Santa Fe River, Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park

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Paynes Prairie, Hike La Chua Trail, Observation Tower

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Kayaking at Silver Springs State Park

Gainesville, Florida

Wrap-up Presentation, Program Concludes

Gainesville, Florida

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At a Glance

The artesian springs of North Florida flow together to create a unique ecosystem and habitat for local wildlife — and their gentle, aqua-blue waters provide the perfect classroom for learning about this ecosystem and habitat by kayak! Find out about the threats that these springs (and the Floridian Aquifer that feeds them) face from human activity and how local activists like the Florida Springs Institute advocate to ensure clean water. As you paddle along the sparkling springs from Ichnetucknee to Ginnie Springs, learn about these environmental issues from local experts who are at the forefront of local conservation efforts.

Activity Level

Outdoor: Spirited

Kayaking for several hours each day.

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Stroll through Sweetwater Wetlands Park, one of Florida’s best birding sites, and find out about Alachua County’s citizen-driven initiative to create clean water.
Take part in classroom lectures on topics from sustainability to ecology and cultural history of the area.
Enjoy kayaking with Gainesville native Lars Andersen, whose 20 years of knowledge and expertise are unmatched.

General Notes

Select dates are designated for small groups and are limited to 24 participants or less. Almost all rooms have one queen bed. A low single supplement is available.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Lars Andersen

Lars Anderson is a history and wildlife author with more than 35 years of experience exploring Florida’s wildest places. He has published works about North Florida and Georgia including his most recent project: “The Paddlers Guide to the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail,” published by the Suwannee River Water Management District. Lars’s knowledge and understanding of the area’s cultural and natural history helps make each Road Scholar program a meaningful and educational exploration of the “real” Florida.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Gayle Felix View biography

Gayle Felix has been a Road Scholar group leader since 2015. She grew up and raised her family outside of Boston and now resides in Hingham, Massachusetts. With a history/American studies degree from Boston University, she enjoys sharing the history of Boston and surrounding areas. Gayle has led programs in New England; Washington, DC; and other areas in the United States. Gayle enjoys being with her family and friends, biking, kayaking, golfing, and hiking. She especially enjoys traveling and meeting new people.

Anne Casella View biography

Anne Casella is a retired faculty from the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at the University of Florida. She is an avid gardener and bird watcher and serves on the Conservation Committee of the Alachua Audubon Society. She is also a program reviewer and site visitor for the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics. Whenever she is able, she travels widely to seek out new birds.

Lars Andersen View biography

Robert Knight View biography

Dr. Robert Knight is the founder and director of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute, a nonprofit program dedicated to supporting science and education for restoration and wise management of Florida’s artesian springs. Dr. Knight is an environmental scientist with more than 40 years of professional experience, including detailed ecological studies at more than 20 large springs. He is former adjunct professor at the University of Florida Dept. of Environmental Engineering and Sciences where he taught graduate level classes on Florida’s springs and wetlands.

Suggested Reading List (4 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

Search for a Title

Kayaking North Florida’s Sacred Springs & Rivers

Program Number: 23541

The Yearling

by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Young Jody adopts an orphaned fawn he calls Flag and makes it a part of his family and his best friend. But life in the Florida backwoods is harsh, and so, as his family fights off wolves, bears, and even alligators, and faces failure in their tenuous subsistence farming, Jody must finally part with his dear animal friend. There has been a film and even a musical based on this story.

Gainesville (Images of America: Florida)

by Rob Hicks

Gainesville, Florida, has grown from a small agricultural community in the north-central part of the state to a thriving city. Many people have had a hand in Gainesville’s evolution. After befriending the Timucuan Indians, who had originally inhabited the region, the Spanish began recruiting other settlers to move to the area. Despite those valued contributions, however, the people who brought the railroad to Gainesville deserve the most credit for giving the town its start. Soon after tracks were laid through the city, small businesses sprouted and opportunities for new industries arose. The city’s population expanded along with its economic growth, and more people began to witness the unique potential of Gainesville. In 1905, the city became home to the University of Florida, and a rich educational heritage began. The university brought great attention to the town and subsequently made Gainesville one of the most important cities in the state and one of the most prominent educational epicenters in the South.

Cross Creek Cookery

by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

First published in 1942, Cross Creek Cookery was compiled by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings at the request of readers who wanted to recreate the luscious meals described in Cross Creek -- her famous memoir of life in a Florida hamlet. Lovers of old-fashioned, down-home cooking will treasure the recipes for Grits, Hush-Puppies, Florida Fried Fish, Orange Fluff, and Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie. For more adventuresome palates, there are such unusual dishes as Minorcan Gopher Stew, Coot Surprise, Alligator-Tail Steak, Mayhaw Jelly, and Chef Huston's Cream of Peanut Soup. Spiced with delightful anecdotes and lore, Cross Creek Cookery guides the reader through the rich culinary heritage of the deep tidal South with a loving regard for the rituals of cooking and eating. Anyone who longs for food -- and writing -- that warms the heart will find ample portions of both in this classic cookbook.

Paynes Prairie: The Great Savanna: A History and Guide

by Lars Anderson

This new paperback edition of Paynes Prairie still offers the sweeping history of the shallow-bowl basin in the middle of Florida, just south of Gainesville, but now adds a guide to outdoor activities that can be enjoyed in the state preserve there today, along with maps of trails for biking, hiking, and canoeing.

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Kayaking North Florida’s Sacred Springs & Rivers

Enroll with Confidence

Protecting the Environment

At a Glance

Best of all, you’ll…

General Notes

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