The Juniper Creek Run in Florida makes for one of the most beautiful paddles in the United States. This crystal clear, sandy-bottomed creek is fed by Juniper Springs, one of the state’s prettiest natural springs. The Juniper Creek Run flows around 7 miles from Juniper Springs before reaching the St. John’s River at Lake George, and makes for one of the most incredible runs to kayak or canoe. Along Juniper Creek, plan to be surrounded by the beauty of the Ocala National Forest with no houses or road noise. You’ll paddle through palm/cypress forests and marshy areas with many tight turns and the need to duck under trees occasionally. Swimming along with you will be schools of giant mullet and turtles, and you’ll likely see a number of gators along the banks. This place is as wild and beautiful as you’ll find in Florida.
📷: Andrea Sterling
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My Daughter: "I hope there's an animal Somewhere that nobody has ever seen. And I hope nobody ever sees it." Being, whose flesh dissolves at our glance, knower of the secret sums and measures, you are always here, dwelling in the oldest sycamores, visiting the faithful springs when they are dark and the foxes have crept to their edges. I have come upon pools in streams, places overgrown with the woods' shadow, where I knew you had rested, watching the little fish hang still in the flow; as I approached they seemed particles of your clear mind disappearing among the rocks. I have waked deep in the woods in the early morning, sure that while I slept your gaze passed over me. That we do not know you is your perfection and our hope. The darkness keeps us near you.
-Wendell Berry
