The Blackwater River begins in Bradley, Alabama, and winds about 60 miles to Blackwater Bay, fed by Big Juniper Creek, Big Coldwater Creek, and Pond Creek. The Florida Legislature designated it an Outstanding Florida Waterway for its beauty and undisturbed nature. Its sandy bottom, white sand bars, and dark water stained by tannic acid give the river its character and name, while its steep slope creates a swift current of 2-3 miles per hour that constantly shifts the sands. Biodiversity defines the river, with aquatic plants such as water fern, water lily, coontail, and spatterdock, though the fast-moving water prevents plant growth in the stream itself and limits algae to sunken logs and pilings. Along the river, live oak, sand live oak, pines, and Atlantic white cedar dominate the plant communities, and the habitat supports many insects, fish, reptiles, white-tailed deer, turkeys, hawks, crows, and herons. Near the Gulf of Mexico, the river widens, slows, and joins other waters to form an extensive brackish estuarine system. Hurricanes Erin and Opal in 1995 altered the river's course downstream from Deaton Bridge, leaving that section no longer navigable by boat. Thirty-one miles of the river are navigable by canoe, kayak, inner tube, or small boat, and the stretch from Kennedy Bridge near Munson to Deaton Bridge in Blackwater River State Park is designated a Florida Canoe Trail.