Photo by Cathy Salustri
If you want a dark history experience — as in, feeling a sense of foreboding and chills down your spine with everything in your gut telling you to “turn back now,” the Wacissa Slave Canal is the place for you. The Canal also reveals a rich tapestry of wild Florida and some rarely paddled waters.
Wacissa Slave Canal History
The Canal also reveals a rich tapestry of wild Florida and some rarely paddled waters. It connects the Wacissa River with the Aucilla River in the Florida panhandle, southeast of Tallahassee. Although the canal existed in some form before human contact, over time, humans have changed it. As long as 3,000 years ago, ancestors of the Seminole and Miccosukee lived along the waterway. Some evidence suggests people may have widened the canal during Spain’s control of Florida.
In the 19th century, enslaved people built dams to divert water from the Wacissa to the Aucilla, through the canal. This was to more efficiently get cotton to market. Today, some of the natural features bear the names of the people who owned the enslaved people. However, little if any, record of the enslaved people were who worked on the Canal remains.
The reality of what people had to endure to build those dams and widen the canal slaps you in the face as you paddle the canal. Getting to the canal from land in 2024, with a sleek kayak, GPS, bug spray, plenty of fresh water, and appropriate clothing is journey enough to deter most paddlers from trying it now. To do so in the 1800s without benefit of most of those things — or reliable conveyance home at the end of every day – bears witness to the brutality of the plantation owners.
Paddling the Wacissa Slave Canal
Paddling the whole length of the Wacissa Slave Canal is best done by seasoned paddlers or with a guide; there’s one turnoff where it’s said if you turn down it, you will never be seen again.
You cannot put in along the canal; instead, you must launch from either the Wacissa River or the Aucilla River.
Wacissa River Put In
Although a longer paddle, putting in at the headwaters of the Wacissa River offers paddlers the chance to enjoy springs along the river. The Wacissa moves fairly quickly, and you paddle one or two small rapids along the way. Gators abound here, although they seem largely unimpressed with paddlers. A guide can lead you to the canal, which will connect you to the Aucilla.
This is easily a full-day paddle.
Aucilla River Put In
The Aucilla is a blackwater river, but you can get to the canal much more quickly by putting in at Aucilla Landing at Nutall Rise, a short drive from US 98. From there, paddle south until you see the opportunity to paddle west, then paddle north. Remember, though, if you paddle this way, you’ll want to turn around and head back the same way. If you don’t, you’ll have a challenging paddle upstream on the swift-moving Wacissa.
You can paddle as far along the canal as you’d like, then turn around and have a leisurely float downriver to the Aucilla.
Paddling the Wacissa Slave Canal
Paddling the Wacissa Slave Canal itself is a relatively short (five miles) paddle. That said, it can be a challenging paddle with plenty of portages. Rainfall and any trees downed in recent storms will factor into how challenging a paddle.
However, paddling all or part of is a worthwhile experience. It lets you see a truly wild part of Florida, and people who crave solitude will appreciate how few people make all or part of this paddle. And, of course, the stacked limestone along the canal — darkened with time — serve as a sobering reminder of the atrocities white plantation owners inflicted on enslaved people.
Read more about my paddle at greatfloridaroadtrip.com.
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