SAINT JOHNS RIVER

navigable stream of northeastern Florida, U.S., which rises in swamps in Brevard County in the east central part of the state and flows north parallel to the coast until it turns at Jacksonville to empty into the Atlantic Ocean, 15 mi (24 km) to the east, after a course of 285 mi. The river forms several large lakes; its principal tributary is the Oklawaha River. The St. Johns has been dredged from Sanford to its mouth, a distance of 200 mi. North of Palatka, where it is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the river is a broad estuary; east of Jacksonville, where it has its deepest channel at 30 ft (9 m), the river is a swamp. The St. Johns River drains an area of limestone with many swamps and lakes, a region of orange and pine groves as well as farm- and pastureland. The river is important both for shipping and for recreation, especially fishing.