Wood River

[Keith W]

Date: Friday Dec. 19 2008

Location: The Wood River is a tributary of the Broad River and provides an alternate route between the Gulf and Camp Lonesome. The western entrance is at N25°28'36.44" W81° 8'45.36", about a quarter-mile west of the Broad River campsite. The east entrance is at N25°29'14.45" W81° 0'7.12", about 250 yards from the dock at Camp Lonesome. The Wood River is better known as the north entrance to the Nightmare.

Condition: The Wood River is passable along its entire length. There are many snags and the mangroves grow across the river in many places along a section starting a little over a mile in from the western entrance. You will need to pull your boat through the numerous overhanging branches and roots for a mile or two, and allow extra time for the slow going. Low profile kayaks should have an easier time than canoes in here. This section is vulnerable to closure from blowdown following a storm.

[Rolando Willimann]

Awesome!!! this will save me some time coming from Camp Lonesome, thanks for taking the time to do this man!

[Terry]

Keith your photo of Wood River is unbelievable, the last time I took Wood River between Camp Lonesome
and Broad River was in 1975 and there was no place the river was narrower than about 30 feet!

[Rolando Willimann]

What a great ride! Definately a very demanding paddle but also most definately worth it. There are numerous tight squeezes no bigger than my 21'' wide kayak and it is at its tightest towards the end of the river, closer to the nightmare, it does finally open up but not after some very interesting limbo/drag-over/pull-throughs...I highly reccomend it to anyone looking for a dynamic paddle when leaving Camp Lonesome.

[yakmaster]

Got a call from the Buckley's. John says the Wood is open for business. They've been doing some cleanup and she's all clear. Excellent alternative to travelling the Broad when you're out in the middle.

[0pgwn2lta8ogo]

Traversed Wood's river from camp Lonesome to Highland Beach three weeks ago.  Slow going in spots, but it's more than worth the effort.

[Kim Gass]

Anyone have more recent experiences?

[rudderless]

Wow! A phenomenally beautiful paddle. In fact, it was the absolute highlight of our 200 mile paddle OFF the Wilderness Waterway. My friend Jason and I did 12 days/11 nights, from 11/29-12/10/12 concentrating on what we believed were routes less paddled, weaving the rivers and hitting most of the backcountry sites and their local waterways. Our boats were 17'9" solo decked Superior Expedition canoes which are 28.5" wide. We did the Wood River on 12/5, enroute from Highland Beach to Camp Lonesome. We entered the mouth of the Wood River from the west, right by the Nightmare (which we had paddled the day before) just after dead low tide of 0.5', around 1300. The first 2 hours was just like nature's version of Disney land, lazily paddling by numerous gators chilling on the banks, huge tarpon crashing the surface, trees filled with gorgeous storks, ibis, egrets, herons, great blue herons, roseate spoonbills, kingfishers, osprey, (few) anhinga, and best of all, the air filled with the sounds of wind through the feathers as those birds took flight, filling the sky as we rounded every corner. Truly breathtaking! Take notice of the "frosting" on the bottom 20 feet or so of the tall mangroves and you'll smile as you know you are right in the middle of their habitat. 

After a couple of hours we picked up the pace to reach Lonesome by sunset and this is where these boats on this river got seriously fun! It was like an obstacle course and the agility of these boats just shined with slight taps to the rudder peddles and instantaneous response to quick yet subtle steering strokes. Finding and lining this boat up to the path of least resistance was a blast!

Logistics-wise there still exist numerous snags where maneuvering sharply will be necessary, however we found the entire route passable with minimal effort in these boats. Neither tide effect nor current was noticeable in the narrows, and with the tide depths we had, we needed to nudge ourselves (still in our boats) over only a single downed tree. We did encounter a newly fallen tree which was suspended over the river, located somewhere around 3 miles east of the mouth (sorry, no GPS coordinates). To pass it, we merely leaned back and scooted under it, but after passing, we noticed that it is NOT strongly held up and should definitely be fallen the rest of the way as it is a real danger passing under, the way it is now. 

Whomever in your party is adept at capturing wildlife images on the go needs to be the lead boat at least part of the time. So many fleeting shots to be missed by those not in front. 

So what I am saying is, the Wood River really stinks, don't paddle it, especially next time I am there. 

[Kim Gass]

We will be in 15 foot  26 inch wide solos that loved to be heeled (its not wise to do it to the rail like we love to do at home) for even more maneuverability. So sharp turns are not a big deal..

Thanks so much for your TR for the day..  I really did not want to venture in to find I would have to drag my boat!

I get to go first...!!!

[rudderless]

When is your trip? We have a cold front hitting tonight. The biting bugs were not bad at all except at the beach sites a couple of weeks ago, but after this weekend you should be pretty home free! 

I'd love to see pictures of your boat and your trip! My other solo is also very narrow and similarly likes to "ride on the side." Lot of sticks in some of those snags... Hopefully your baby doesn't get scarred.

Have a blast!!!

[Kim Gass]

My baby has lots of scratches from barnacles on chickee piers.  And last week ice.  Trip is in two weeks. Cold fronts happen. Though your cold front is like our warm front that we got yesterday. Two feet of snow vanished in 70 mph winds and three inches of rain.. This am..yard cleanup at a balmy 32.

We always get some bugs and some cold on our annual Everglades trip. Its not all Maragaritaville.

[Jay]

Great TR!!  We missed each other by a day @ Nightmare and Highland.  I would love to see your detailed route!

[rudderless]

Kim, Have you tried a Bungee Buddy tethering system to hold your boat away from any undesirable objects when you aren't loading? Only about $20 online with free shipping. Very functional.
Jay, was hoping to run into you but it wasn't to be. Loved your trip report as well. Jason has our gps track and if he doesn't post it I will soon. Cheers.