Tubing the Ichetucknee River is one of the most authentic and beautiful Florida experiences while you unplug and let the slow moving waterway carry you through pristine wilderness.
My feet are dangling in the fresh, cool, clear water as the warm Florida sun radiates to the sandy bottom below. I’m firmly planted in my inner tube and I’m effortlessly drifting down one of Florida’s most beloved rivers, the Ichetucknee.
Fed by aqua translucent springs, I’m guided by the gentle flow that prepares me for the only thing possible: complete relaxation. It’s early morning and I am one of the first to leave the dock for the three-hour “chillaxing” drift downstream. At this very moment, the slow meandering river owns all of me and I’m blissfully “one” with the legendary Ichetucknee.
I’m well into my Zen-like fog when I begin observing the abundance of beauty around me. Shaded by overhanging trees and green luscious foliage, the Ichetucknee’s popular reputation is undeniable and I am reminded why so many love this river. As the summer temperatures rise, the constant 72 degree water becomes one of the best antidotes for escaping Florida’s heat and humidity.
Slowly floating through the shaded hammocks and wetlands, I spot egrets, wood storks and ducks, limpkins, ibis and scads of turtles sunning on submerged logs. I watch the beauty of this river as I pass by the marsh river grasses and white lillies, while otters swim beneath me. Nearby, under a canopy of oaks, I see a grazing white tailed deer.
