Explore the St. Johns River

Explore the St. Johns River. . , Natural Beauty and Tourist Destination, The St. Johns River has always been famous for its natural beauty and was one of the many factors that led to Florida’s development as a tourist destination. Travelling down this ancient resource still provides many of the same vistas of Florida’s natural splendor and this stretch of the river offers many conservation areas which preserve that natural beauty. Many of the conservation areas offer recreational facilities such as camping, fishing, and canoe/kayak launches. Some of them also have important histories in their own right such as the Ravine Gardens State Park which was constructed by the WPA and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the ill-fated Cross Florida Barge Canal, which was started as a WPA project but never came to fruition., Murphy’s Island , Murphy’s Island is the upland spot in the Murphy’s Creek Conservation area located five miles south of Palatka. The island is a sand hill and hardwood hammock that features high bluffs which present a spectacular view of the St. Johns River., Horse Landing , Horse Landing is the site of a Civil War Battle in which the Union warship Columbine was destroyed. The battle of Horse Land was one of the few instances wherein a Union warship was destroyed by land based forces., Ocklawaha River , The Ocklawaha River originates from a chain of freshwater lakes which flow to the St. Johns River. In 1860, Col. H.L. Hart introduces the river to tourists when he began his steamboat tours of the waterways between Palatka and Silver Springs.