Anybody familiar with Snipe Island?

[captkeyser]

REPORT: Drove 2.6mi down Snipe Island Grade. Sign said no motor vehicles past that point. Fair enough. Backpacked for 20 minutes on muddy grade, getting excited as I felt like I was closing in on the end of the grade.

With maybe 1/2 mile to go, I encountered a locked gate. No trespassing. Violaters will be prosecuted. On a public road? In a Wildlife Management unit?

Turned around and slogged back. Fail.

ARRRGH!

Ouch!

[MudDucker]

REPORT: Drove 2.6mi down Snipe Island Grade. Sign said no motor vehicles past that point. Fair enough. Backpacked for 20 minutes on muddy grade, getting excited as I felt like I was closing in on the end of the grade.

With maybe 1/2 mile to go, I encountered a locked gate. No trespassing. Violaters will be prosecuted. On a public road? In a Wildlife Management unit?

Turned around and slogged back. Fail.

ARRRGH!

Must be a new site for the NSA spying program!

On a lighter note, I thought snipe island was any island where you handed a guy a gunny sack and a trash can lid and told him to hold the sack open, bang the lid and holler "here snipe" until he felt one run in the bag.

[Sea Dawg]

If im not wrong thaTt is privite land the other gate opens over on the acilla river rd If i was you I would carry a gun with me when i went in that land it was once known for otherthat legal thing so you need not to take risk ,,They might be more than u think lurk in them theree woods

[GaryDroze]

Haven't quite thrown in the towel. While scouting for the NFGFC Econfina Ramp Tourney 3 years ago, I started out on one of the State Park hiking trails, then left the marked trail to bushwack through the marsh (yep, Red-Yakker, I know what you mean about that area. Rough). Was trying to get to Redfish Creek, east of Snipe. It took 2 hours, but I think I'll do better this time. Redfish to Bowden/Snipe Creeks looks doable in half a day.

For a boat, I hope to try out an Advanced Elements Packlite. It's a 5lb inflatable that should fit in my backpack. They are pretty expensive, so I'm gonna beg the company to sponsor me.

Sea Dawg: I admit, it got a bit creepy hiking way down Snipe Island Grade. Would not want to get stuck there after dark.

[silverking]

Gary,
Did the Air Force skimp on your land survival training? Better ask for your money back.

Got to admire your tenacity and explorer spirit. And I thought I was being adventurous by fishing new spots in the kayak. You are raising the bar higher than most of us will dare to go.

PS In the Navy they taught us to stay in the boat (or the airplane). There's lions and tigers and bears, oh my, plus snakes in that marsh jungle. Not to mention big lizards. Be careful and keep up the reports.

[tallykenj]

Gary works harder for fish than most people. Sometimes it pays off the tourneys. Keep it up, Gary, and keep us updated on your adventures.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

[cotton]

I once tried to find a way to pinhook by car. It seems the govt wants to keep kayakers out from the econfina to the lighthouse. Would love to find a way to launch in that area. 1/2 mile with my kayak on a trolley would work. Dragging thru a swamp would not. Your the man!!!

[GaryDroze]

I know a way to the upper Pinhook by bike (assuming the grade is not flooded) that is about 1.6mi after parking at a steel-roped intersection 2mi off HWY 98. With a kayak bike trailer, you could get there in maybe 15 minutes from your car, if the Florida Trail is not underwater.

In my experience on the FT around the Aucilla River, that's a big if!

[Gulf Coast]

It seems the govt wants to keep kayakers out from the econfina to the lighthouse.....You should really follow up with a LOL or something, someone might take you serious...

[cotton]

It seems the govt wants to keep kayakers out from the econfina to the lighthouse.....You should really follow up with a LOL or something, someone might take you serious...

I should have saved that for another thread. It came out of frustration. The day a friend and I went looking for the pinhook I could clearly see from my gps, I was very close to reaching it. Every time I got close, I would run into a locked gate or cable. The roads appeared to be built. But the access appeared to be denied. I don't believe I ever reached a gate built by a private landowner. I see from Gary's post you can get there by bike and that the distance was 1.6 miles. It sure fealt like we were closer.

I wish St. Marks NWA would provide access somewhere in that area.

[GaryDroze]

Cotton: I feel your pain. There are dirt roads within the Flint Rock Unit (WMA) south off HWY 98 that also get you tantalizingly close to the Pinhook (the roads with locked gates mostly lead to Tram Rd in the St. Marks Refuge; they are locked to keep you from entering the Refuge w/o paying). HOWEVER...to enter the Flint Rock Unit, you need to purchase an annual permit from FWC. Last time I checked, the yearly permits cost something like $130. Hard to justify paying that much and still not getting decent access to Pinhook. I think only hunters would be willing to buy the permit.

[gldearman]

I've hiked to the Pinhook from the lighthouse side. It was about a seven mile haul, one way. At the time (last year, about mid-March), it sure didn't look fishy when I got there. The water was clear as glass, and I saw nothing near the bridge that looked like fish activity. It was probably a time of year/tidal phase thing. If I knew the right time and tide, I'd consider going back (If anyone's got any tips on that …)

I wouldn't take a bicycle on that part of the trail, though. When I went, even in late winter, the trail was covered with alligators, many quite large. More than once, even at walking speed, an alligator and I didn't see each other until we were pretty close, and it'd have to warn me off. One even snapped. If I'd been moving just a little faster — say, on a bicycle — I imagine that, by the time the alligator noticed me, I'd have been close enough that it felt the need to defend itself. And that would've gotten messy.

Everyone I've heard of paddling the Pinhook launches a kayak from the lowest launch on the Aucilla, then paddles up from Apalachee Bay. From my research on the internet, even people who've made the trip before can only find their way through the marsh about 50% of the time.

Personally, I favor the area being open to the public, but with a lack of easy access. That way, if you do manage to paddle it, it's still worth seeing — it's still wild, you don't have to deal with other people. It's sort of like a special prize only awarded to those who have made the effort.

Thanks for letting me know about the shorter hike, though, Gary.

I also researched the Flint Rock permits. Not only are they expensive, but they are only usable on days the area is open for hunting.So, not only is it the most expensive kayak launch permit ever, but you'd be required to be an ******* to the people who are trying to hunt. I tend to stay well clear of management areas during open seasons. I don't want to scare the game away from the people who are paying the lion's share of the fees to keep those areas open, and I don't want to run into the occasional poorly-trained hunter who would shoot me without a clear look to see I'm not a game animal.

[SHOWBOAT]

Cotton: I feel your pain. There are dirt roads within the Flint Rock Unit (WMA) south off HWY 98 that also get you tantalizingly close to the Pinhook (the roads with locked gates mostly lead to Tram Rd in the St. Marks Refuge; they are locked to keep you from entering the Refuge w/o paying). HOWEVER...to enter the Flint Rock Unit, you need to purchase an annual permit from FWC. Last time I checked, the yearly permits cost something like $130. Hard to justify paying that much and still not getting decent access to Pinhook. I think only hunters would be willing to buy the permit.

This is accurate, but I think a $25 WMA permit will get you into the Aucilla SGA, formerly the Pinhook still hunt area

[gldearman]

This is accurate, but I think a $25 WMA permit will get you into the Aucilla SGA, formerly the Pinhook still hunt area

I'm pretty confused about the Aucilla SGA. The FWC website shows it as 50,471 acres, with a map that is exactly the same as the 50,471 acre Aucilla WMA.

The Pinhook still hunt area is part of the Aucilla WMA, and, you're right, the Pinhook river does run through it. With access to a road that's open to vehicles. And the gate to that road is open year-round.

The Aucilla WMA does not require entry permits for hikers, paddlers, or fishermen.

I think I may have to scout this out.

[flintrock]

ya'll are correct that a stretch of the Upper Pinhook runs thru the Aucilla/Pinhook Still hunt area and thru a portion of Flintrock Mgmt Area. Then it continues on and enters the St Marks Refuge south of Pinhook Still Hunt Area. Both Flintrock and Pinhook Still Hunt areas are bordered on the south by the Refuge. I believe any entrance into that portion of the Refuge requires paying a fee and I would guess that entrance whether by foot or bicycle or trying to paddle down that stretch of the Pinhook is prohibited unless you pay the refuge fee. The boundaries of the Refuge in that stretch of woods/swamp are fairly well marked by fence/signs/firebreak. I know it is patrolled regularly by the Refuge Gestapo. But net is that the Pinhook is not what most would consider navigable until it reaches the bridge on the main east/west Refuge road (105) unless you consider crawling/slithering thru knee/waist deep mud as being navigable. I think the locked gate that GaryDroze ran into on the Snipe Island grade is because that buffer of coastal/marsh area is owned/controlled by D.E.P. as part of Coastal Lands and Aquatic Preserve.