List of rivers of Florida Facts for Kids

This article is about the many streams and rivers you can find in the sunny state of Florida. Most of Florida's rivers and streams begin in flat, low-lying areas called the Coastal plain. However, one special river, the Apalachicola River, starts far away. It forms when the Chattahoochee River (from the Appalachian Mountains) and the Flint River (from the Piedmont area) join together.

Many Florida rivers begin in wet, marshy areas called swamps. Others start from natural springs or lakes. It's cool to know that some of these rivers even flow underground for a while! The famous Everglades is sometimes called the "river of grass." It's a very wide, shallow river that starts from Lake Okeechobee. Most of Florida's rivers eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico. On the east coast, the St. Johns River is the most important. It flows alongside the coast from near Fort Pierce all the way to Jacksonville.

Florida's Rivers: Where Do They Go?
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Florida's Rivers: Where Do They Go?

Florida's rivers flow into different large bodies of water. We can group them by where their water ends up.

Rivers Flowing to the Atlantic Ocean

These rivers are on Florida's east coast and flow into the Atlantic Ocean. They are listed from north to south. Smaller streams that flow into them are called tributaries.

St. Marys River

* Amelia River * Bells River

Nassau River

* South Amelia River * Thomas Creek

Fort George River
St. Johns River – This big river gets water from many amazing places like Juniper Springs, Salt Springs, Silver Glen Springs, Alexander Springs, and Blue Spring.

* Pablo Creek * Sisters Creek * Broward River * Trout River * Ribault River * Little Trout River * Arlington River * Pottsburg Creek * Ortega River * Cedar River * Doctors Lake * Julington Creek * Black Creek * North Fork Black Creek * Lake Kingsley * Yellow Water Creek * South Fork Black Creek * Rice Creek * Etonia Creek * Dunns Creek * Ocklawaha River * Orange Creek * Little Orange Creek * Orange Lake * Cross Creek * Lochloosa Lake * Lochloosa Creek * Prairie Creek-Camp Canal-River Styx * Newnans Lake * Silver River * Lake Griffin * Yale Canal * Lake Yale * Haines Creek * Lake Eustis * Dora Canal * Lake Dora * Lake Beauclair * Apopka-Beauclair Canal * Lake Apopka * Dead River * Lake Harris * Palatlakaha River * Salt Springs River * Alexander Springs Creek * Hontoon Dead River * Wekiva River – Fed by Wekiwa Springs * Blackwater Creek * Little Wekiva River * Lake Jesup * Econlockhatchee River * Little Econlockhatchee River

Matanzas River

* Tolomato River * San Sebastian River

Halifax River

* Spruce Creek * Tomoka River * Bulow Creek

Indian River North
Indian River

* Banana River * Eau Gallie River * Elbow Creek * Crane Creek * Turkey Creek * Saint Sebastian River

St. Lucie River
Loxahatchee River
Hillsboro River
Stranahan River

* New River (Broward County) * Middle River

Oleta River
Little River
Miami River

* Wagner Creek

Snapper Creek

Rivers Flowing to the Gulf Coast

These rivers are on Florida's west coast and flow into the Gulf of Mexico. They are listed from south to north, then west.

Joe River
Shark River
Harney River
Broad River
Rodgers River
Lostmans River
Chatham River
Huston River
Lopez River
New River in Collier County
Turner River
Barron River
Fakahatchee River
Whitney River
Big Marco River
Henderson Creek
Cocohatchee River
Imperial River
Estero River
Caloosahatchee River

* Billy Creek * Orange River

Peace River

* Horse Creek * Shell Creek

Myakka River

* Myakkahatchee Creek

Manatee River

* Wares Creek * Braden River * Cooper Creek

Little Manatee River
Alafia River – Fed by Buckhorn Spring, Lithia Springs
Palm River
Hillsborough River – Fed by Crystal Springs

* New River in Pasco County

Anclote River
Pithlachascotee River
Weeki Wachee River – Fed by Weeki Wachee Springs
Chassahowitzka River
Homosassa River – Fed by Homosassa Springs
Crystal River
Withlacoochee River (central Florida)

* Rainbow River – Fed by Rainbow Springs * Little Withlacoochee River

Waccasassa River

* Wekiva River (Gulf Hammock, Levy County)

Suwannee River – A famous river fed by many springs like Suwannee Springs, Hart Springs, Ginnie Springs, Fanning Springs, Manatee Springs, Otter Springs, and Troy Spring

* Santa Fe River * Ichetucknee River – Fed by Ichetucknee Springs * New River * Withlacoochee River (north Florida) – Fed by Madison Blue Springs * Alapaha River – Fed by Alapaha Rise Spring * Alapahoochee River

Steinhatchee River
Fenholloway River
Econfina River
Aucilla River – Fed by Nutall Rise

* Wacissa River – Fed by Wacissa Springs, Aucilla Spring

Pinhook River
St. Marks River – Fed by St. Marks Spring

* East River * Wakulla River – Fed by Wakulla Springs

Ochlockonee River

* Sopchoppy River * Telogia Creek * Little River

* New River

Apalachicola River

* Jackson River * Chipola River – Fed by Baltzell Spring, Blue Hole Spring * Chattahoochee River

Econfina Creek
Choctawhatchee River – Fed by Vortex Spring

* Pea River

* Shoal River

Lake Okeechobee and Its Connections

Lake Okeechobee is a huge lake in Florida. Its water flows out in many directions through canals. Some water goes to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lucie River, West Palm Beach Canal, Hillsboro Canal, North New River Canal, and Miami Canal. Other water flows to the Gulf of Mexico through the Caloosahatchee Canal, which connects to the Caloosahatchee River.

The main river that brings water into Lake Okeechobee from the north is the Kissimmee River.

Fisheating Creek
Indian Prairie Canal

* Lake Istokpoga

Kissimmee River

* Istokpoga Creek * Lake Istokpoga * Arbuckle Creek * Josephine Creek * Jackson Canal * Zipprer Canal * Lake Rosalie * Weohykapha Creek * Jackson Canal * Lake Kissimmee * C-37 canal * Lake Hatchineha * Catfish Creek * Lake Marion Creek * Snell Creek * Reedy Creek * C-36 canal * Cypress Lake (Florida) * Dead River * C-34 canal * C-35 canal * Lake Tohopekaliga * Shingle Creek * C-31 canal * East Lake Tohopekaliga * Boggy Creek

Taylor Creek
Mosquito Creek
Henry Creek
Lettuce Creek

Alachua Sink: A Special Drainage Area

The Paynes Prairie Basin gets water from many places. This water used to only drain into a giant hole in the ground called the Alachua Sink. From there, the water flows into a huge underground water system called the Floridan aquifer.