With summer comes thoughts of cool water and cool breezes and just plain staying cool, which you might think would nix most outdoor activities in Florida, but you’d be wrong. There’s a cool corner of our state that feels a lot like Appalachia, with high bluffs overlooking swift rivers and shallow waters riffling over rock rapids. It’s Blackwater River State Forest, more than 190,000 acres of forests, marshes, and waterways between the Alabama state line and the towns outlying Pensacola, and a prime outdoor destination for our Florida summers.

There’s a reason the town of Milton, gateway to Blackwater River State Forest, is called the “Canoe Capital of Florida.” We can thank Jack Sanborn, whose stint in the Navy at Whiting Field, along the edge of the forest, helped him crave the outdoors. Back in 1975, he started with a dozen canoes to take folks down the Blackwater River, establishing Adventures Unlimited Outdoor Center (850-623-6197 or  800-239-6864) just 12 miles north of Milton off CR 87. He parlayed those canoes and the popularity of paddling not just the Blackwater River with its sandy beaches but also Coldwater Creek and Juniper Creek into a serious adventure complex where guests can stay in relocated, renovated historic cabins and a schoolhouse – yup, a genuine historic schoolhouse from the town of Fidelis, circa 1930s – while enjoying the wilderness around them.

The School House Inn is truly a treasure. Each former classroom is now a comfortable room, a retreat in the forest, with original beadboard walls and ceiling and hardwood floors in each of its eight literary-themed rooms: #1 Poets, #2 Audubon, #3 Faulkner, #4 Dr Seuss, #5 Hemmingway, #6 Mitchell, #7 Rawlings, and #8 Twain. I’ve stayed with Hemmingway and Margaret Mitchell watching over me, the latter with a framed image of Tara above the bed, Civil War photos around the room, and books evoking the period on the mantle. This is a true getaway – it’s more than a dozen miles on twisty, windy roads (where you can see mountain ridges in the distance) to the nearest restaurant, but the room has a small fridge, microwave, and coffeemaker. There are no phones, no television, no clocks, no radios, and no Internet access, but you can sit in a rocking chair on the front porch and read, or hang out around the campfire ring at night. Rates run $79-109 per night, with a three night minimum between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The School House isn’t the only place to stay, however. Campsites start at $20 and air-conditioned cabins at $49, or opt for one of the group cabins or cottages that run $119 and up.  

With your choice of tubing down Coldwater Creek ($16) or kayaking or canoeing any of the three favorite waterways in the region ($25 and up, 2 hours or more), there’s plenty of cool splash to be had under the spruces and pines that line these spectacular streams. Along the Blackwater River, bends in the waterway reveal massive sandy beaches, great for a bit of sunning, swimming, and picnicking. Keep cool this summer—get back to nature on the Blackwater River!

Adventures Unlimited: http://www.adventuresunlimited.com

Blackwater River State Forest: http://www.fl-dof.com/state_forests/blackwater_river.html

BIO: Sandra Friend co-authored North Florida & the Florida Panhandle: An Explorer’s Guide for Countryman Press. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers, she lives in Ocala. Learn more at www.sandrafriend.com

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