The Santa Fe River begins near Keystone Heights, Florida, travels west, and empties into the Suwanee River. At one point, however, within the boundaries of O’Leno State Park, the river disappears into a sinkhole and then reappears three miles downstream. This is obviously not normal behavior for a river, so as I walked the trail alongside the water I was very excited to witness the phenomenon.
Hiking to the site of the sinkhole I was surprised to see how calm the water was, like a pond. The river just stopped, surrounded by trees and scrub brush. On my hike I had envisioned walking up on a massive vortex of water swirling into a cavernous abyss, so when I arrived I won’t deny that I was a little disappointed. After gazing at the scene for a while and coming to terms with the fact that the “pond” before me didn’t justify an exposure, I started on the trail back upstream. After a hundred yards or so I came upon something I had missed before; a large Bald Cypress tree standing defiant against the current. The water wrapped gently around the tree, it’s massive base creating an eddy of swirls. Once again, I had been captivated by only a few square feet of nature.
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