Palatlakaha River

The Palatlakaha River is a river in Lake County, Florida. It forms the principal headwater of the Ocklawaha River, a tributary of St. Johns River. The source of the Palatlakaha River is at Lake Louisa, itself fed from the Green Swamp^[1] by two streams known as Big Creek and Little Creek.

From Lake Louisa the river flows north through a chain of lakes known as the Clermont Chain of lakes, which are 17 in total.^[2] In order the major lakes are Lake Susan, Lake Minnehaha, Lake Palatlakaha, Lake Hiawatha, Lake Minneola, Cherry Lake, Lake Lucy and Lake Emma. From Lake Emma the river flows through a swampy area to enter Lake Harris.^[3]

The river is 30.9 miles (49.7 km) long.^[4] The upper section of the river forms the 26.22-mile-long (42.20 km) Palatlakaha Run, a waterways trail for canoeists and kayakers organized by Lake County.^[2] There are six water level control dams on the river that are closed to keep water levels higher during drier periods.^{[citation needed]}