3 Days Solo Sandbar Camping the Suwannee River | Limestone, Waterfalls, Full Moon

In short: After the storm came the calm, but the calm on this river is deceptive. The further I pushed down the Suwannee with River Dog, the older the place felt and the bigger its residents got. The one goal tonight was simple: find a safe place of sand to call home deep in gator country. This trip is a bushcraft fire from fat lighter and birch bark, cheap camp cooking that eats better than the expensive stuff, and picking a sandbar you can actually sleep on.

A bushcraft fire in the rain

We got lucky at the first camp. There was a piece of fat lighter right there on a tree, so I chopped a piece off, pure yellow Georgia heart pine, full of resin. I stacked it around cotton balls soaked in Vaseline and let it catch, then added birch bark off the trees down this way. That birch bark burns better than fat lighter. It flamed up like I poured gas on it. Even after all the rain we paddled through that day, that is a fire you can count on. Fat lighter and birch bark are two of the best natural fire starters there are, and they are worth learning to find on the bank.

Cheap camp cooking that eats good

Supper was Ben's red beans and rice with a thick pork chop from the night before sliced into it. That pouch runs a couple dollars. You go buy the fancy freeze-dried camping meals and that is 12, 13, 15 dollars, and this eats just as good, probably a little better. That is the whole point. You do not have to spend big to eat well on the river. River Dog got the bone, and he was happy. He is a mini Australian Shepherd, five months old, and this was his first real time out. Instead of herding sheep he rides in the canoe.

Reading the river to a sandbar

The next day we pushed on down toward Turner, and the river kept changing on me, from cypress and tupelo to the first real limestone outcroppings once we crossed into Florida. Gators came off the banks the whole way, one big one that walked right in without any hurry at all. Come evening I started hunting a spot. The last thing you want is to turn over in gator-infested water, so I passed on the sketchy ones. I found a good flat sandbar a bin short of Turner Boat Ramp, right about where I wanted to be, with trees spaced right for the hammock and tarp. We landed, set camp before dark, cooked stir fry chicken and rice, and kept River Dog close on a short leash. That is the game deep in gator country: get up out of the water, camp set before dark, and eat good over your own fire.

Questions about gator-country camping

How do you pick a safe camp in gator country?

Come evening I start hunting for a spot instead of waiting until dark forces the decision. The last thing you want is to turn over in gator-infested water, so I pass on anything that looks sketchy even if it means paddling a little further. What I am looking for is a good flat sandbar with solid footing, up out of the water, with trees spaced right for a hammock and tarp. On this trip I found one a bit short of Turner Boat Ramp, just about where I wanted to be, and it fit everything I needed. Once I land I set camp before dark rather than fumbling with it after the light goes, and I keep River Dog close on a short leash the whole time we are there. That is really the whole game deep in gator country: get up out of the water, get camp set before dark, and eat good over your own fire once it is done.

Are camp meal pouches worth it?

You really do not need the expensive freeze-dried camping meals to eat well out here. On this trip supper was a pouch of Ben's red beans and rice with a thick pork chop from the night before sliced into it, and that pouch runs a couple dollars. Compare that to the fancy freeze-dried meals, which run you 12, 13, sometimes 15 dollars a pop, and the pouch eats just as good, honestly probably a little better with the pork chop added in. That is the whole point of cooking this way, you do not have to spend big money to eat well on the river. It is easy to cook over a small stove or a fire, and it saves you money while it fills you up. River Dog got the bone off that pork chop and was plenty happy about it, a five month old mini Australian Shepherd on his first real trip out.

Where is this on the Suwannee?

This is a multi-day paddle down the Suwannee River, starting up at Fargo, Georgia and crossing the line into Florida, camping on sandbars the whole way down. The river changes character as you go, starting out thick with cypress and tupelo and eventually giving way to the first real limestone outcroppings once you cross into Florida. The further down I pushed with River Dog, the older the place felt, and the bigger its residents got, because this stretch runs thick with gators the entire way. On this leg I was pushing on toward Turner, and I ended up camping on a good flat sandbar a bit short of Turner Boat Ramp, right about where I wanted to be for the night. It is a river that keeps changing on you mile to mile, which is part of what makes running it start to finish worth doing.