Tater Hill To Johnny Boy’s Landing

By Clint Cox, alias
“The Panhandle Paddler”

We left off last week at Tater Hill, so that is where we’ll pick back up this week. Departing Tater Hill the river meanders at a leisurely pace pass some interesting landscapes and backgrounds. A few bends below Tater Hill there is an intriguing lime rock shelf formation on the east side of the river. Next up on the agenda is what the locals refer to as Hall’s Landing. Apparently this used to be a very popular hang out for the locals, much like Tater Hill. There is a nice little sandy beach area and the remnants of a swing that has clearly seen it’s better days can still be spotted dangling from one of the big oak trees towering over the water.

Paddling on down river about 30 minutes or so there is a spring that enters the river from the east side. My traveling companion, Chris Matthews, and I chose not to explore this run but I made sure to snap a few shots of the clear spring water as it blended into the Ole Chipola. In another 15 minutes or so of paddling we began to see some houses, primarily on the west banks. For the most part, from Peacock’s Bridge to where we saw the first house, which is about 5 miles run, the river was absolutely pristine with no development on either side. I suspect that this stretch of the river looks much like it has for hundreds of years (no wonder this is one of my favorite stretches to paddle).

Once houses have been spotted travelers will know they are getting close to civilization again. Within a few bends you will encounter one of the great landmarks of the Chipola River. Johnny Boy’s Landing has been around for as long as I can remember. It is located several miles west of Altha, just off of County Road 274. Johnny Boy’s has long been associated with having a great swing. Be forewarned though, depending on the water level, you must either swing out over dry land or very shallow water to reach water deep enough to launch into the river. Johnny Boy’s has also long been associated with a lot of partying. While the landing includes a nice sandy beach area and a spring run, it usually has a pretty large crowd on the weekend and holidays. And they generally aren’t feeling much pain (unless of course they mistimed their launch off the swing and hit dry land or shallow waters). And don’t be shocked to catch a whiff of some of those left handed cigarettes, if you know what I mean. Over the years I have either put in or taken out at Johnny Boy’s many times and I’ve never had any real problems. But I don’t normally hang around too long either. The Johnny Boy’s crowd doesn’t warm up too well to out of towners. (And yes, being from Marianna makes you an out of towner). So unless you are from Altha, I would recommend that you make your take out or put in at Johnny Boy’s a short affair.

I don’t mean for my comments about Johnny Boy’s to damper folks enthusiasm to get out on this stretch of the river. It really is a beautiful run and as I’ve said one of my favorites. So happy paddling and next week we’ll travel from Johnny Boy’s to Lamb Eddy.

Rollin’ Down the River is a weekly summertime feature of the Jackson County Times that highlights the Chipola River through pictures, stories and articles.