Camping on the Crooked Creek chickee
in the Ten Thousand Islands of the Everglades!
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Crooked Creek chickee in relation to Everglades City and Chokoloskee island.
It’s well positioned as an easy first night camp for many Ten Thousand Islands trips!
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A Crooked Creek sometimes used to be called ‘Cripple Creek’. It could be a meandering creek with many twists. It could have hidden places to go and get away for a little while. It could be a place to meet some friends for a little camping fun, perhaps? There’s a famous old time Southern folk song “Cripple Creek” that comes to mind, and ‘Crooked Creek’ is close enough for Rock’n Roll to me.
Camping on this backcountry platform tucked away in the mangroves of Everglades National Park makes a timeless connection to the tune!
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Listen in to this jam-session of the folk classic ‘Cripple Creek’!
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Satellite view of Crooked Creek and the camping chickee.
It is ideally located between the inside and the outside, between Lopez River and Sunday Bay.
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From ‘Cripple Creek’:
Gone to Crooked Creek, gone in a canoe,
Gone to Crooked Creek to have some paddling fun.
Gone to that Crooked Creek, gone in a kayak,
Gone to Crooked Creek to have some camping fun.
Ya’ll can sing along to the music, if you wan to ..
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Crooked Creek chickee tucked away at the south entrance to Crooked Creek in the Everglades.
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The Crooked Creek chickee is well positioned as an easy
first night camp for many Ten Thousand Islands trips.
At about 9 miles out from the Park launch at Everglades City it sits between the Lopez River and Sunday Bay. The paddling distance is about the same whether you come up the Lopez River from the Gulf side or paddle inside via the Turner River.
The Crooked Creek chickee opened for public use the end of 2011 and replaced the old chickee on nearby Sunday Bay that was removed after damage due to wear, hurricanes and storms. The old Sunday Bay chickee was also sometimes very difficult to access on low tide. This new chickee is positioned tucked away at the southern entrance to Crooked Creek in the deeper water of a cut.
The entire section is also marked off as a No-Wake zone!
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Crooked Creek featuring the chickee camping platform in this aerial little planet-style panoramic view.
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There are several ways to get to Crooked Creek. This makes for a more interesting paddle and an easy way to make a fun loop originating in either Chokoloskee or Everglades City. As with any other trip into remote wilderness areas, be sure to have everything in order and review the Wilderness Trip Planner. If you’re camping, don’t forget to get a Backcountry camping permit available at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades City!
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Low altitude aerial view of Crooked Creek chickee looking due west.
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The Crooked Creek chickee is in a no-wake zone thankfully!
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Final approach to Crooked Creek chickee camping platform in the ten thousand islands.
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The Crooked Creek is a double chickee and one of the newest ones in the Park! Each side has a very convenient cooking platform/shelf on the side. Also it is completely made of real PT wood except for the floorboards which are of the ‘plastic wood’ type.
For obvious reasons there are NO FIRES allowed on this,
nor on any other Park chickee platform!
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Arrival at Crooked Creek chickee on high tide.
Thanks to Ted Perron for this great pic of me arriving at the chickee!
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High tide vs Low tide!
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Crooked Creek chickee at low tide!
WaterTribe Everglades Challenge adventure racer Ted Perron aka ‘Spiritwalker’.
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An outback plein air apartment on the creek!
The Crooked Creek chickee is feng shui oriented east – west, and that actually makes sunsets and sunrises somehow more enjoyable.
Also there’s nearly always at least a lil bit of a breeze since there’s a larger body of water nearby.
I found no-see-ums to be more prevalent than the skeeters, but that may be different in the summer time!
The mangroves are not that far away, so bugs are to be expected!
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Camp at sunset on the Crooked Creek chickee in the Ten Thousand Islands.
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Enjoy this great version of ‘Cripple Creek’ by Buffy Sainte Marie featuring her voice and her distinctive mouthbow!
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My God it’s full of stars! Orion setting over Crooked Creek on the Everglades coast.
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Goin up Crooked Creek, goin on a run
Goin up Crooked Creek to have a little campin’ fun
Goin up Crooked Creek, goin in a kayak
Goin up Crooked Creek to sleep in my little tent
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After dark is when the fun really starts on the Crooked Creek chickee camping platform!
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Is this camping HELL on the Crooked Creek chickee?
CLICK for story!
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Click for:
Camping Hell in the Ten Thousand Islands
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Heaven or Hell:
Summer paddling and camping in the Ten Thousand Islands
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Sssssh .. people are sleeping!
Heaven or Hell: Summer paddling and camping in the Ten Thousand Islands.
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Click for:
Check out this entertaining account of a real hellish summer camping experience on the Crooked Creek chickee
by Glades explorer Shawn Beightol!
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A twangy banjo rendition of ‘Cripple Creek’ for your enjoyment. Paddle faster! 😉
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Keep’on Paddling – nobody wants to hear you squeal! 😉
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It’s possible to paddle down the Turner River, camp at the Crooked Creek chickee, and then paddle back up the Turner! Also, other well known Everglades campsites are nearby, such as Lopez River, Watson’s Place, the Sweetwater Chickee, even Darwin’s Place or Rabbit Key out in the Gulf!
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Yes, you can report ’emergencies’ but only if you can get reliable mobile service out here on the creek!
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Is this the Ladies’ room? Is it for Gents too? Who else can use this toilet?
The Park doesn’t say, but I say if you gotta go – please use it! 😉
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Up on Crooked Creek they send me
If I spring a leak they’ll mend me
Not to worry the chickee tells me
A paddler’s dream if I ever did see one!
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Enjoy!
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Adapted from “Cripple Creek” – an Old Time Appalachian folk song and
“Up on Cripple Creek“ by The Band – © 1969 Capitol Records.
Fair Use – Parody/humor.
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© 2016 – 2021 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.
All rights reserved!
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The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!
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With that said..
Blessings friends!
kayakfari ( kayak .. far .. i ) 