Chipola River

The Chipola River is a spring-fed river in northwestern Florida and a major tributary of the Apalachicola River. Its headwaters are in Houston County, Alabama. The river itself forms where Marshall Creek and Cowarts Creek meet in northern Jackson County. From there it runs 92.5 miles south past Marianna and through Calhoun County and northern Gulf County before it joins the Apalachicola. More than 60 springs feed the river, including Jackson Blue Spring. At Florida Caverns State Park it briefly flows underground. The river ranges from 2 to 15 feet deep and from 25 to more than 100 feet wide. Near Wewahitchka it widens into Dead Lake, a natural impoundment of about 6,700 acres. Dead Lake formed when sediment from the Apalachicola blocked the Chipola's mouth. A sheetpile dam was built at the lower end of the lake in 1960 and removed in 1987.

The Northwest Florida Water Management District's Chipola River Water Management Area runs for about 18 miles along the river and includes a boat ramp and canoe launches. The Chipola River Canoe Trail starts at Florida Caverns State Park. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lists river access at Magnolia Road (CR 280), Peacock Bridge Road, SR 274 west of Altha and SR 20 at Clarksville. The agency notes shallow limestone shoals and snags that are hazardous at low water. Dead cypress stumps in Dead Lake make it hard for motorboats to get through.

The river supports shoal bass and redbreast, redear and bluegill sunfish. Since June 2019, all shoal bass caught in the river and its tributaries must be released.