Peace R. FL Bartow-Ft. Meade

Advice
#1

A few yrs back we had no trouble paddling this section of Peace R & found it one of most scenic sections above our takeout in Arcadia.

On 2-8-07 we tried it again but were forced to turn back as river seemed to disappear about 1hr below Bartow. A USGS fellow we met doing some shoreline reasearch mentioned river flowing into a sinkhole ? Water levels were very low in central FL last Winter.

Anyone aware of current/future? conditions in this section ? Making plans for this Winter’s escape from land of ice & snow & wondering about chances it’ll be navigable ?

Thanx.

#2

Check this Outfitter link… sounds OK
http://www.canoeoutpost.com/Peace/prwaterlevel.htm



I’ve known outfitters to be optimistic about low water, but it sounds like the Peace is not yet dirt low. You can match their information against your past experience.



I also checked the USGS board, but it appears that they do not have a satellite gauge on the Peace.

#3

Check this out on the web…
USGS Real Time Water Data for Florida. Then click on Statewide Streamflow Table. Then scroll down to Peace River Basin and click on the different gauge sites to get the info you want.

Enjoy!

#4

Gauge site!
That’s the same site I use Gulfcoaster.



We just canoed, last weekend, from Fisheating Creek out about 2 hours. All was okay. A little low in

some areas, but we never even had to get out of our canoe.



Jo

#5

Thanx for replies
Looking for local knowledge, I foolishly hadn’t thought to check USGS gauge readings. Sure are lots of them on FL’s almost uncountable waterways. Normally a river increases in CFS as it flows downstream & acquires tributaries, but gauges show that’s not presently case on Peace between Bartow & Ft. Meade. (The sinkhole ?)

Will check it out again before Feb.launch.

#6

Many years ago…
A large spring fed the Peace just outside of Bartow (I was born there) until the mining operations booned. It began to flow again when the miners went on strike back in the late sixties. It flowed for about a month until a week after the strike was settled. Could it be that the former spring is now a sink?