Category: 2024-2025 Trip

I checked into WP Franklin Corp of Engineers Campground on an island at a lock on the Caloosahatchee River by noon on Saturday.

Here is an aerial view, this is the 3rd time I got campsite #8.

The campground is northeast of Fort Myers in a quiet neighborhood.

For paddlers or fisherman there is a lot to do. You can fish from the dam area, launch a boat from the boat ramp upstream into fresh water or go downstream through the lock and fish in salt water.

For paddlers, about a mile down stream, you can paddle up the narrow Telegraph Creek about 3 miles , beyond that it is very narrow and often blocked by fallen trees. 

I expected to see hurricane damage this year but everything looked normal, except I saw no large alligators but many more smaller ones.

There were plenty of birds and a few turtles. 

Paddlers can also paddle about 1-1/2 mi upstream from our campground and head south up Hickey Creek, a wider and deeper creek, to a park with a landing and a picnic area and  pavilion. You can continue upstream another mile or so but it narrows and you will again be blocked by fallen trees.

For bicyclists you can bike around the nearby neigborhood streets which will require short rides down River Rd which has no bike lanes but light traffic. I try to wait for no traffic and sprint to the next street. It is not hard to get in a 8 to 10 mile trip. There is a regional park 2 miles down River Rd that has mountain bike trails. If you have a car you can drive 10 miles over to Babcock Ranch which has miles of paved bike trails through this newer growing planned community.

You can also get some pretty sunrise or sunset pictures from your campsite.

I am nearing the end of my
two week stay at the beautiful campground at Franklin Lock on the
Caloosahatchee River east of Fort Myers, FL. I got to paddle two more times on
sunny days; Once, down the big river a couple of miles but I headed back when it
started getting windy. 

And once upriver to Hickey’s Creek another small river that goes through a small park with a hiking trail that crosses over the river twice. It eventually narrows and is blocked by deadfall. This year I paddled up
the creek about 2-1/2 miles making it about a 8 mile round trip from the
campground.

Snow in the FL Panhandle

This week the big polar
vortex storm that brought below zero temperatures back home and record heavy
snow to the Florida panhandle, pushed all the way down to SW Florida bringing
rainy days and temperatures that never got to 60o. Cold and rainy is not
conducive to outdoor activities. 

I felt cooped up looking out my windows
watching it rain and listening to the howling wind. Tomorrow they are
predicting frost warnings north of here.

My plans are to leave here
Saturday and drive to Tampa Bay and hope to get a nice campsite at EG Simmons County
Park, they don’t take reservations so maybe the bad weather will cause some
campers to go home early. 

EG Simmons East Campground Site #79

The forecast is finally calling for an end to the cold
spell and promising temperatures back into the high 70’s later next week.

The forecast is finally calling for warm weather and my reservation at WPF ended on Saturday 1/25/25. The plan is to drive 100 miles north to Tampa Bay and see if I can get a campsite at EG Simmons County Park. They do not take reservations and I heard that since the hurricanes all of their sites may not be available because of power problems or trees that need to have branches removed. 

I needed to get propane and grocery shop before I got to the campground, which delayed my arrival until noon, but that is the checkout time anyway.

There were a few sites available and I got site #70 which is just down the line from the picture I posted in my last blog.

You can paddle here on their canoe trail within the park or
you can paddle out into Tampa Bay going north to Apollo Beach or south to Bahia
Beach as long as there are no storms or windy days. I’ll probably try all options
on sunny days to get some exercise.

You can take a 6 mile bike around the large park on the
paved roads.

There are lots of residential streets nearby to ride your
bike but there are no designated bike trails. I like to ride over to Bahia
Beach or Apollo Beach and bike through the upscale neighborhoods or shop at the
nearby grocery stores.

One place I like to ride is to the Manatee viewing area
about 8 miles away in Apollo Beach. There is a large power plant that discharges
warm water back into the bay. The Manatees love the warm water. If the bay
temperature goes below 70^o they head here by the hundreds. The bay, after
the cold spell, is only in the 50’s.

When I was getting ready to leave a big truck from the Manatee Hospital rolled up to return a small Manatee back into the water. I swear I saw Peggy trying to help walk the Manatee down to the bay, since the 14 volunteers were having a hard time carrying it.

Peggy at Julies Fish House