Update:
Access to Little River is now *closed* as of March 20, 2002. The Suwannee River Water Management District is doing improvements at the park - stabilizing banks, handicap access, building trails, wilderness camping, etc. Access is closed both from land and water for about nine months. There will be substantial improvements to the site including better access to the spring via boardwalks. The county will continue to manage it when the restoration work is done. Eventually this site along with Peacock, Ichetucknee, Troy and O'leno will be all state managed and called the "Recreational Corridor". It is tentatively planned on being reopened in March of 2003, but we all have seen the expedient nature of the state in reopening Madison Blue.
Location:
Little River is located just north of Branford. Drive 3.1 miles north
on U.S. Hwy 129 from the intersection
with U.S. Hwy 27 in Branford. Turn west (left) onto 248 and drive 1.8 miles and then
take a left at the dead end. There are no changing nor bathroom facilities here.
Description:
Little River is a popular dive site and a watering
hole for the yokels and is operated as an open county park.. There are
no real restrictions for diving here and there are a new set of stairs
built since the flood of 1998 that leads from the parking lot to the water.
Flow is usually very high and allows incredible visibility most of the
time. This is a great place to start your caving career since for the first
few hundred feet there is little silt or splitting passage. One must be
careful once past the cavern zone since the chimney can be startling if
you can't control your buoyancy and anticipate rapid changes upon exiting.
An open water diver died here several months ago due to lung expansion
injuries. GUE has a some great pictures of the cave and some other information
here.
In early March 2000, a diver who was barely intro-cave
trained died on a scooter dive past the well casing (several thousand feet from
the entrance). Apparently the two divers
hadn't been diving in over six months and came to do some more cave diving.
The deceased was found with his regulator spit out of his mouth, mask dislodged,
and over 800psi in his doubles. Cave diving is not for the occasional diver. If
you cannot commit the time and money necessary, then don't even bother starting.
While this is a good site for beginners, it still should not be taken lightly.
At least one diver a year on average is pulled out of here.
Click here for
Little River cavern map (PDF)
Click here for Little River cave map A (PDF)
Click here for Little River cave map B
Click here for Little River street map
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