# Blackwater River State Park, Fl?



## GoVols

Anyone stay at Blackwater River State Park near Milton? Sand bottomed river looks great for canoeing, etc. Do gators (the reptile, not the fans) mind sharing the river?


----------



## CamperAndy

Talk about memories!!









I grew up in Fort Walton and canoed the Black Water many times. It was always tent camping and normally a 3 day trip with 2 nights on some lonely sugar sand beach and cedar drift wood for the fire.

This is a few years ago and there may be more people living on or near the river but you could go almost the entire weekend and not see a soul.

My DW is from Canada and when we got married we canoed the Black Water a few time and and on one of the more memorable trips. It was get to be late afternoon and we needed to pick a beach to camp on and as we came around a bend the DW said "That looks like a nice beach and there is a big log we can set up next to the fire pit.". In the next few seconds everything went into slow motion. The "log" decided the river was nicer then the beach so it crawled in and it just so happens it was about 15 feet in front of us. The DW who was 15' closer to the now mobile log then I was, was furiously back paddling and I was telling her to 'Stop agitating the water and the logs and just drift by!!!". Well you would have thought that we were in either the Olympics or a re make of Deliverance and she just want to put miles between us and the log with legs.

We camped about an hour further down river then we had planned but it is a great story. I still kid her some about it and the fact that there were many others she just did not see.

Not sure how you would be able to enjoy it the way we did with the Outback but a day trip up river would be good.


----------



## sleecjr

Being a native floridian, I always encourage the tourists to feed the gators. They are just big lizards.







But you are an outbacker. So I will give some words of wisdom. DONT FEED THE GATORS, AND KEEP THE DOG AWAY FROM THE WATER AT ALL TIMES. Most of the time gators will avoid you, But they love dogs.


----------



## 3LEES

sleecjr said:


> Most of the time gators will avoid you, But they love dogs.
> [snapback]102411[/snapback]​


They also love Volunteers...









Beware of the Swamp!









Seriously, Lee is giving you a straight scoop. Keep dogs and small children away from shorelines and they will avoid you.


----------



## CamperAndy

This is not pond gator country. This is a flowing shallow river. The gators here are never in the news as they are already well fed from the river plus it is hard for them to sneak up on you when they are thrashing in the water trying not to go down stream.

Most of the gator attacks you hear about are in the other part of Florida (Black water river is near Alabama). When I camped on the Black water all of the gators were tagged.

Go camping and enjoy but also have plenty of bug spray. We did find the skeeters will remove plenty of blood even if the gators are not a big threat.


----------



## GoVols

Well, I'm not sure I would be able to talk DW into a canoe trip anyway. She will ask about gators, and I will have to tell the truth and say they are there. The horrible bear attack at Chilhowee in SE TN this past week will be fresh in her mind, and she will say "no way".

Gator attack/shark attack/bear attacks are statistically very low occurences, but it does make for sensationalistic news and some irrational responses. We are invading "their" space, and there will eventually be conflict, but the chances are very remote it will happen to you. You are much more likely to get struck by lightning or die from a bee sting than an encounter with any of these apex predators.


----------



## Remove_B4_Flight

If you are unfamilliar with predatorial wildlife, I highly encourage you to read up on their behavior, habitat and other characteristics before venturing out into their world. Everyone is aware of the bear attack in Tennessee and more recently the cougar attck in California. These are RARE occurances, but still not to be taken lightly. I have spent much of my adult life exposed to predators (bears, alligators, large cats, sharks) and I can say that all of my encounters have been at a safe distance and without incident. This is due to the fact that I have never deliberately gotten close enough for trouble. All wildlife is facinating to observe and for some reason, predators are even more so. Responsibility is the key. Be aware of your environment. Do not leave a trail of crumbs to you and yours. Always have an escape route planned for when you get near a predator. Sometimes encounters happen when we least expect them to, but most attacks happen when a human deliberately gets too close, maybe for that once in a lifetime photo opportunity. If you have to "zoom in" by steping closer, make sure you know where you are going to run before hand. Otherwise, casually observe from a safe distance and your wildlife encounter will be pleasantly memorable.


----------

