Thanks for joining us on this paddle adventure from King's Landing to the Emerald Cut! This area of Florida feels like a tropical jungle paradise! Let us know if you've added this to your bucket list!

At the beginning of your video sounds like a woodpecker?? Thanks for sharing 👍

Wow, has Kings Landing really changed over the years. The last time I was out there was in the 1980’s. My grandfather bought a small piece of land from Mr. king back in the early 60’s and there was only a few houses out there on the west side of the river going north. Our property was on the east side of the river going north with Rock Springs Park backing up to it. I inherited the property and sold it to the state of Florida back in the mid 80’s so that it would remain natural out there. That was the least time I saw Mr. King (good old Florida boy) . The water use to be deeper and the river was wider back then. Thanks for showing it, brings back a lot of old memories of being out on Rock Springs run with my dad and grandfather who have passed on.

Been living in Florida for 10 years. I'd take a kayak trip on Florida spring rivers VS beach day ANYDAY!!!

The sound at the beginning was probably the red pileated woodpecker. I see\hear them a lot when we're camping around there.

Love the springs !

Did this with a tour guide. Excellent for first time! Nice to hear the history of the place and all the flora and fauna info. Also kayaked. You’re paddling upstream the way there so a little bit of a workout for the inexperienced. Floated downstream the way back. amazing experience! So beautiful! Florida at its best!

You guys are my Saturday morning coffee adventure ! Thanks so much for sharing and all you do!

We've only done the Tubing Experience for now, but there is so much more to explore in this great area! We hope to come back some day! Keep posting good videos like this one 🙂

Oh my word! King's Landing looked beautiful! Although, I won't lie the signs about the alligators and snakes gives this MN girl second thoughts! Don't get me wrong, I know that they are known in Florida but it looks so nice and serene there, I was holding out hope that just maybe that area was alligator free. Wishful thinking, I know. :)

The no speaker rule is fantastic. A shame there has to be a rule, and people don't just do the right thing and not annoy everyone else.

I definitely want to visit here

That's a woodpecker getting breakfast

I definitely would go paddle King’s Landing! So beautiful. For me it’s even better than the beach!😮

My partner and I moved to St Petersburg and for months before the moved watched all your videos for the countdown ! Can't wait to check this place out

Thanks for sharing about the area.

Looks amazing! If I lived in Florida, I would definitely hit that place up. The water looks gorgeous. Glad you guys got a little R&R during your busy time. Thanks for sharing the memories you're making and have a blessed weekend!

You are paddling through a jungle ! So happy for your video 🙏🏻

Downstream at next sprung and open area with 6 foot Garfish and turtles galore thanks for a gr8 tour!

I’ve been to Kelly rock springs and loved it. This area seems nice to paddle through too!

Great video! I would definitely take the trip to paddle the springs. Glad the weather was perfect for it.

Looks amazing there! Thanks for the trip!

Yes. Would love to do this.

I love all the information! Also the prices and the hiking trails. Thank you somuch

I went there 4 weeks ago for the first time. Its was amazing

This was a great adventure today.

It is a woodpecker making that sound you heard; likely a Downy Woodpecker. It is a territorial thing for the male birds.

Very beautiful

When you exit the water in temps of 50°F or less, the air tends to numb your body while you dry. At least, that's been my experience. I'm a floridian and love swimming in the winter months.

Yeah, Weeki Wachee, Rainbow…etc have more of that gorgeous blue hue.

Thanks!

I agree with Skylar. Orlando is my original hometown, and King’s Landing…etc does have more of a dense, jungle-like feel. North Florida and the Panhandle are different and have some different tree species and terrain. That was a woodpecker early in the video. Cool video! I love Rock Springs, but it can get crowded. It’s better to go on a weekday during the school year. Wekiwa is the bomb as well. Same thing, though with the crowds

Wow, that is so cool. I love beaches, but I would definitely take my paddleboard to Kings Landing. I will watch more of your channel.. (from Lake Erie..certainly not warm enough here yet, lol), lol.

That sound… I think it’s a woodpecker. That water is pretty clear. Great video as always!! ❤❤❤

Just watched 2 of your videos great content & info thanks 😊

Thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video like always, that sound is from a woodpecker, they do that sound to get a mate 👍

Woodpecker? A giant woodpecker 😂

It's a woodpecker. Not sure what kind. The scenery is unbelievably beautiful! Nice that they have rules to keep it quiet and real.

Oh my goodness. This is so beautiful. I’m actually painting a mural in Orlando of a Florida spring. It’s in honor of Earth Day.

It sounds like the Predator. Look out for the three red dots!

Simply stunning 🤩 less than 3 weeks to go before our Florida vacation and this place is now definitely on our list. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Excellent video. Enjoyed it.

How fun. I took out my 11’ Sea Eagle kayak Today. Probably way too big for this trip. I was in the open water south of Fort Pierce inlet and the sun took its toll. It was pretty busy with kayaks and paddle boards today and the stand ups were making as much progress as I was in the kayak. Those springs look way more inviting and my kayaks are 15 years old now. Might be time to invest in a stand up.

The noise in the trees is a Pileated (Piľ ē ā ted) Woodpecker hammering on a tree trunk. Lovely place

Florida is sick! Might need to go check it out :D

That may a good place for us to check out being that we've never been on kayaks or boards before.

Super:))

I've seen reviews that show Crave at Rock Springs is a decent place to eat as well..but the buffet looked good too.

There was a croc there with ppl boarding n kayaking. What if you flip over! Oh no thanks, would like to visit but stay on land. Thanks for sharing, it’s really pretty there.

I do want to take an extended stay down there, I am new to your channel appreciating your rich n beautiful content, your expert advice is just what I needed!🧡💜🎖

Don't let the.. no crowds.. at this time of year fool you in the summer it's like a kayak train both ways and nobody can control them..but still a great place you should do the run from there to wekiva island

Thanks for sharing. We've been to Rock Springs/Kelly Park many times but never able to do the kayaking or paddle board because our kids are too young. Good to see the other side of the spring past the bridge. Btw, if you haven't done it, taking a tube from the head of Kelly Park is amazing and one of our favorites for just floating down a spring. Blue Springs is nice too but wider and much deeper. I like it because I love swimming. My gf and sister prefer to float lol. There's also a really deep area at the head of it.

It‘s beautiful, still, it‘s Florida… I was thinking of the gators through the whole video. 😳

I would love to go paddling there, but think I would stick to my kayak because I just can't balance on a paddleboard 🤣 Are there ever any gators in the springs? I just feel like any water in Florida could have a gator in it!

ALLIGATORS !

Congratulations on the new channel and I hope the move is going well. I’m curious if you guys have tried the ferry from St Pete to Tampa, I’d like to give it a try when I’m in town next, might make a good vid?

Another great one in the books! Question. Do you guys have a "Goto" sunscreen/bug repellent?

Wow, beautiful! Paddling down a spring is definitely on my to-do list when we visit florida. Do you recommend a place for inexperienced paddlers?

That sound is a red-headed woodpecker. I have one visit me sometimes in Largo. Occasionally, he'll peck on the aluminum street light housing.

The emerald cut began when you turned right from the launch channel. I camp at kelly park all the time and if you do there is a place in between kings landing and kelly park called camp joy that 8s part of the park if you are a camper you can launch for free there.

Love your channel! I have a trip to kings landing next month. My question, where did you get your hat! I love it! 🥰

I hear a Woodpecker😁😁😁

Which spring would you guys recommend that is scenic? Will be visiting there soon 🥹

That's a Woodpecker in the trees

@2:10 Woodpecker (bird)

Looks inviting. Any fishing allowed anywhere?

The sound you hear at around 2.00 is a woodpecker.

It is a woodpecker.

Great video! Do you need a reservation to enter King's Landing? Is it part of Kelly Park?

The sound you heard when you started the Rock Springs Run was the sound of a woodpecker pecking a tree to get inspects inside the tree. It sounds like a machine gun because that’s how fast their head goes. Their head can break the sound barrier while pecking and hit the wood at more than 100 mph. Their tongue is the longest in the animal kingdom, which is so long that it wraps around their brain. Their brain has evolved to float the brain so they don’t get a concussion. Based on the volume and low tone of the sound, it is a large woodpecker, most likely a paleded woodpecker. They are very large compared to other woodpeckers. They’re the woodpecker with a red head and the bird that Woody Woodpecker was based on. I live in central Florida and have paddled the Rock Springs Run and Wekiva River many times. There are some parts of the run with the most breathtaking foliage that doesn’t even look like you’re in the U.S anymore. Another clear creek is the Juniper Springs that you would enjoy. Juniper Creek is in the Ocala National Forest. We have seen some big gators in that run, so be careful swimming in it. They usually warn people to stay in your boat or water craft, especially at dusk or dawn. Gators aren’t very aggressive and won’t mess with you as long as you don’t mess with them. If you want to seen manatees, the Blue Springs during cold weather. The manatee leave the Saint Johns River when the water gets cold, so they can spend that time in the warmer waters from the spring. All Florida springs have a constant temperature of around 71 °F. We always go from King’s Landing all the way down river to Wekiva River. The two rivers meet about 6 miles down from the landing. The good people at King’s Landing used to shuttle one person down to the parking lot at the end of the run and shuttle that person back to the landing. That way you can just get in your car once you get downstream. And they’ll pick up the boat the next day, you just leave the craft in the designated canoe rack and lock it down with the padlock there. By paddling down the run, you’re going with the current all of the way. Rock Springs Run has a current speed of around 6 mph, which doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re canoe or kayaking, it will be a significant hard paddle. If you take a break, the Kaya will begin to slow down and then swept backward at 6 mph. If you start at King’s Landing, you be with the current and the kayak or canoe will continue going forward, even if you stop paddling. Your muscles will burn trying to paddle against it. It’s possible, but extremely difficult. It isn’t gators, snakes or spiders that injure tourists. It is usually shots to the noggin from downed trees across the river. If you’re not paying close attention, you can come around a bend and spot a tree across the water and that’s when you realize that 6 mph is faster than it sounds. If you can’t duck under it in time or stop on boat on a dime, you will smack the tree trunk with your face, so slow down on blind corners or it will take you right out of your canoe or kayak. In some spots of the run it may be necessary to get out and port your canoe or kayak around the obstruction. Another danger is bees nests. Mostly wasps that like to build their nests overhanging the river for protection. Raccoons and other small predators often won’t risk climbing a small branch over the rapid moving water just to break open the nest. If you’re kayaking or canoeing and hit one of those nests. The bees will really hurt you. If you stir up a wasp nest, your best bet is to dive in the water and stay underwater until you are far from the nest area. Don’t be more worried about gators to jump in. Your chances of being stung more than a hundred times is much greater than a gator attacking you. Gators are naturally afraid of humans and tend to leave us alone, bees don’t have that fear. Typically gators are seen sunning themselves along the shoreline, but you will occasionally see one or two in the water. Gators are nocturnal hunters, preferring to hunt starting at dawn and throughout the night at dawn. If you visit Florida and are at any lake, river, stream or creek, at night, turn on your flashlight and aim the beam right at the water surface. You will usually see many of ruby red eye peeking up just over the surface. Once when my wife and I were at Alexander Springs, the Ranger shined his light along the water surface and there were literally over 100 pair of eyes we could see in deep, blood color eyes. Just an hour earlier, hundreds of people were just splashing around in that water. Because the gators have a fear of humans, they wait and come in at night. I guess it’s all of the food scraps that follow big crowds of people which feed the gators that come into the spring head at night.

Did you see any Gators at all?

Can you bring and use your own kayaks and boards

Is the paddle supposed to be used with the curved part toward the front? Maybe that's the turbo mode?

Soooo pretty ....but ....watch out for alligators ....Thts Floridaaaaa lol

Sounds like a woodpecker I’m from ga and there a lot around here

The noise is from a woodpecker doing its thing.

Just to many rules, but really nice. I prefer free places and less or no real supervision. Born/raised in Florida, there is so much better if you research a little.

2:10 sounds like a woodpecker to me!

2:00 | pretty sure it's the sound of a woodpecker pecking wood

We watched the video. Beautiful place but my wife said no because of gators. 🙂

Sound was a woodpecker.

Ichnituknee or what was the second one?

Ok so Alligators? This looks terrifying from the Uk 😂

Yeah, the sound was a woodpecker.

LOL. I used to be a manager at the supermarket at the other end of that shopping center where King Buffet is. At the time it was an amazing Gooding’s Supermarket…arguably the nicest in the whole chain. It has since been subdivided into Petco/Planet Fitness/Famous Footwear now.

Once you guys started paddling, looks pretty much all the same surroundings. But sure beats 14 hrs a day playing pc games.

Nice! But what about the alligators? lol

Beautiful video and location. Thanks for sharing. Fat people like me love buffets, y’all are fit so they don’t have the appeal to ya. Lol

It's a woodpecker

🐊🐊🐊🐊 🤷🏽‍♂️

Hi I think that's a woodpecker.

That's a pileated woodpecker

That sound you are hearing is a Red headed woodpecker

I think the noise you hear is eastern screech owls I live on a small lake and at night especially in the spring and they often continue during the day

If that river flows to the ocean they can’t prohibit alcohol and especially on private property which property lines probably go across the river and no speakers sounds like a first amendment violation. Navigable waters are public so the rope going across saying no trespassing seems a little iffy

I worry about critters or snakes??? Didn't seem to see anything roaming ?

HOW CAN THEY GET IN THE WATER WITH THE CHANCE OF MEETING AN ALIGATOR.

What about gators?

thats a woodpecker

Woodpecker in the tree.