Indian River

Indian River Lagoon (IRL)

The Indian River is a 121 mile long brackish lagoon spanning 5 counties on Florida's East Coast. The Indian River is the largest of 3 water bodies in the Indian River Lagoon Estuary system and is a part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

Location

The northern terminus of the Indian River is in Brevard County's Scottsmoor, it merges with the Banana River at Dragon's Point on the southern tip of Merritt Island, and then extends southward to meet Palm Beach County's Loxahatchee River with it's southern terminus at Jupiter Inlet.

Indian River Water Bodies

Water bodies connected to the Indian River include:

Brevard County: Haulover Canal Gator Creek Catfish Creek Banana Creek Boggy Pond Puckett Creek

Sykes Creek Merritt Island Barge Canal, Banana River Eau Gallie River Crane Creek Turkey Creek Palm Bay St. Sebastian River

C-54 Canal St. Lucie River Horse Creek Mullet Creek

Causeway Bridges Nasa Railroad Causeway

Atlantic Ocean Inlets to the Indian River

• Sebastian Inlet

• Saint Lucie Inlet

• Jupiter Inlet

History

Spanish explorers originally named the lagoon Rio de Ais after the Ais Indian tribe who lived along the river.

Summer Smell

During the hot summer months the earthen berm causeways tend to impede the flow of [[algae) and rotting seagrass which results in an odor of hydrogen sulfide in some areas along the river.

External links

• An early 20th Century description of the Indian River
• Hernandez Trail History