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funkill · 07-28-2009, 07:26 AM

Two weeks ago I pulled my Silver Olive to the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park (SOS). I was traveling with two other parties, one in a MH and one towing a trailer with three horses. The intent of this trip was mostly to ride. The SOS is a large park (700+ acres) with an area that reserved for members. It is heavily shaded and seems to have nice, level sites: some with concrete pads and cable & sewer. We used the horse camp area with paddocks ($57/night). These are huge sites with 30 amp service and water and a fenced paddocks that allows for 2 horses (more for an additional charge). I believe the other sites are substantially less costly. There are a lot of amenities: country store, golf cart rental, cottage rental, airstrip, craft village (open F-S), pool, disc golf, putt-putt, bikes, stables, café (including delivery), music hall, canoe/kayak outpost, catch/release pond that is really nice, large bathroom & shower facilities, playgrounds and lots of trails for hiking/cycling/riding. No ATVs. They no longer offer trail rides and have closed the petting farm. They are heavily focused on the music – with year-round events. We went to the karaoke (that was an experience) and tried to get to the Colgate Country Series but, it was too packed. Here’s their website: http://www.musicliveshere.com/ The town of Live Oak is small and *vintage* but, from what we saw, it seems to offer most of the necessities. I believe there was a Wal-Mart within 5 miles.

Our week was pretty full and we did trail ride quite a bit. The trails were shady and soft. Not only does the campground have a lot of trails, but they lead you to land owned by the Suwannee River Water Management District which adds hundreds of acres of trails. One day we rode to the Suwannee Springs and another day along the Suwannee River. We rode over the abandoned Hillman Bridge – which reminds me of that Discovery show, Life After People. It was very humid but not crazy hot. No bugs. Well, except for the banana spiders on the trails. Yikes.

We kayaked a couple times. The Canoe Outpost offers a selection of trips: from 2 miles up the river to overnight. We did both the 2 and 4 mile paddles. The river current in that area is slow and pushed us down in 2-4 hours (respectively), back to the outpost. We could have done it faster if we had actually paddled instead of floating and sunning! A little too much sun the second trip. Ouch. The 2-mile trip starts at Suwannee Springs. It’s a small spring bordered by three walls. You can dive into the vent from the wall (though I didn’t). It’s very cool and sulfurous: an odd odor. The river is beautiful and has white beaches which provide a good place to stop for lunch and swim. The beaches are a real contrast to the brownish-orange river.
Seems everyone takes the golf carts through the trails on the park. We rented one for $50/day. (I think they charge $30/day if you bring your own and there are a lot of restrictions defining allowable carts.) Driving carts through the trails was actually more fun than I expected. In an area called 80 Acres there are several large clearings that have deer feeding stations. You, supposedly, can watch the deer from the many wooden decks/observation stands. There are also several bat houses located on the property.

I am hoping to return to that park soon. I am sure it is packed during the large music events and on holidays but we found it very peaceful on our trip. Plus, I kinda have a crush on the guy who owns the Canoe Outpost.

That’s all. Let me know if you have any questions about the place.
Laura