The Myakka River itself — a slow, dark, wild blackwater river winding through oak hammock and marsh, Florida's first state-designated Wild and Scenic River.
The road runs close to the river along here, so watch for the water through the trees — the Myakka River, slow and dark and wild, winding its way south through the marsh and the oak hammocks. It's what's called a blackwater river; that tea-dark color isn't dirt, it's tannins, stained by the leaves and roots of the swamp, clean and natural. And this river is special enough that Florida gave it a title: back in 1985, the state named the Myakka its first Wild and Scenic River, protecting a long stretch of it so it would stay wild and undammed and beautiful, forever.
Look at the trees crowding the banks — those magnificent spreading live oaks hung with Spanish moss and gray-green air plants, and the cabbage palms, Florida's state tree, poking up among them. This tangled, shady mix of oak and palm is called a hammock, an island of high, dry forest in the wet country, and it's cool and green and full of life — songbirds, squirrels, maybe a barred owl watching you from a limb. This is the real Old Florida, the way the whole peninsula looked before the highways and the theme parks, a wild river running through a wild forest. It's a rare and precious thing, and it's yours to drive through today. Roll on toward the lake.
Photo: Wknight94 · CC BY-SA 3.0
