DESTINATION: St. Johns River - Atlantic Ocean
N 30° 24.207 W 081° 24.013
17R E 461556 N 3363560
The St. Johns River, the longest river in the State of Florida, USA, stretches 310 miles from Indian River County to the Atlantic Ocean in Duval County.
Waymark Code: WM3E5W
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 03/22/2008
Views: 55
From
Wikipedia: "The St. Johns River is the second longest river in the United States that flows in a generally northwards direction. It was designated as one of the American Heritage Rivers in 1997. The elevation change from headwaters to mouth is only about 30 feet, making the St. Johns one of the world's "laziest" rivers. Its extremely low velocity, combined with the generally level elevation, causes the St. Johns to spread out to a great width for much of its course. During periods of low flow, the river can be influenced by tides as far south as Lake Monroe - 161 miles inland. For a distance of over twenty miles before arriving at downtown Jacksonville, the river's average width exceeds two miles, and in some places, exceeds three miles in width. The slow flow of the St. Johns makes it difficult for pollutants to be flushed from the waters, which has become a serious problem for the river ecosystem. Still, the river is home to numerous species of plants and animals. It is not uncommon to see dolphins in the river east of Jacksonville and manatees in the springtime when the water warms up. Alligators, bald eagles, ospreys, stingrays, and many species of fish—both salt and fresh water—are found living in the river and on its banks. The entire basin is managed by the St. Johns Water Management District."
We accessed the St. Johns River mouth through
Huguenot Memorial Park, which has access to the north side of the river. If you are a member of the military or a military veteran, you may also access the south side of the river through Naval Station Mayport. Once you get to the north jetties at Huguenot Memorial Park, you can walk along the sand on the inside of the jetty toward the river mouth. We walked as far as we could to take our photos and coords -- we stopped when we started sinking down into the wet sand -- the tide was just going out when we got there and the sand was extremely wet. It was overcast while we were there, but the temperature was lovely and the ocean breeze very nice. Several surfers were taking advantage of the Atlantic Ocean waves just outside the jetty.