The only communities along the river are Steinhatchee and Jena near its mouth. The river is not developed, being used solely for recreation and as a port for landings of locally caught commercial fishes such as sheepshead, mullet, gag and red grouper, Spanish mackerel, white grunt, hogfish, stone crab, and blue crab. About 1 mile (1.6 km) of the river goes underground as a subterranean river near where U.S. Route 19 crosses the river. 8 miles (13 km) from the river's mouth is Steinhatchee Falls, where the river drops several feet.
^U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 18, 2011
Marth, Del. 1990. Steinhatchee River. in Marth, Del and Marty Marth, eds. The Rivers of Florida. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. ISBN0-910923-70-1.