The Santa Fe River is a 75-mile (121 km) river in northern Florida. The watershed of the river is approximately 1,380 square miles (3,574 km2) and spreads across southern Columbia, southern Suwannee, western Bradford, far southern Baker, Union, northern and eastern Gilchrist, and northern Alachua counties.[1] The headwaters of the river are Lake Santa Fe, near Keystone Heights.[2] The Santa Fe River is usually a slow-flowing river.[clarification needed] This slow speed, combined with the abundant leaf-drop from nearby trees, especially Bald Cypress, leads to a very dark-brown river due to dissolved tannins.
The Santa Fe River is typical of many rivers in karst regions in that it completely disappears underground and then reappears 5 kilometres (3 mi) downstream.[3] The river drops into a large sinkhole in O'Leno State Park[4] and reappears in the adjacent River Rise Preserve State Park.[5] The land over the underground section of the river, referred to as a natural bridge, was used for the main route of the Spanish mission trail and the Bellamy Road to avoid a water crossing of the Santa Fe River.[6]
Springs like Gilchrist Blue, Ginnie, Hornsby, Lily, Poe, and Rum Island springs are located at the banks of the river, mostly downstream of the river's reappearance above ground level.[7] The water temperature near the numerous springs is always around 72 °F (22 °C).[8] The area is sparsely populated compared to the rest of Florida, there have been sightings of animals like the black bear, bobcat, the rare Florida panther and due to the near-constant water temperatures along many portions of the river, manatees.[9] As with many rivers in Florida, plant and animal fossil remnants are plentiful along the Santa Fe.[10][11][12]
