Wacissa River

Its headwaters are located about a mile south of the town of Wacissa, where the river emerges crystal clear from a group of large limestone springs.

The springs that feed the Wacissa River emerge in a bottomland forest below the Cody Scarp, a relic marine terrace marked by a line of hills to the north.

[2] The Wacissa is well known for its large concentration of aquatic birds, including egrets, herons, ibis, osprey, wood storks, limpkins, anhingas, kingfishers, barred owls and bald eagles.

According to George L. Thurston III's 1976 report on the Wacissa for the Canoe Trail Atlas:[2] Two centuries ago, open stands of virgin longleaf pine grew on the stony upland north of the extensive hardwood hammock at Nuttal Rise.

When naturalist, Herbert Stoddard, Senior, visited the area in 1932 after the absence of some years, he reported the entire ecology of the lower river was "drastically changed."

Birds such as limpkin and egret which feed on the snails, had become as scarce as the snails.Although much of the Wacissa forest is now some 85 years into recovery, logging activities are still common in the area.