Historic Significance
The lands where River Woods Ranch sits and its surrounding area are rich with history. From Indian trading trails to early Spanish settlements, the waters of the Escambia River and neighboring forests offered abundant resources. A multitude of pioneers were drawn to this area and the timber industry took hold with a large number of established mills. This led to others clearing fertile areas of land planting corn, peas, sweet potatoes, sugarcane and vegetables. This is believed to be the beginning of Agriculture in northwestern Santa Rosa County.
Escambia Glamping
Devil's Backbone
The “Devil’s Backbone”, a long steep narrow ridge in the northwest corner of RWR leads down beside Holly Creek adjacent to the Escambia River. It extends out overlooking a lowlands area and reaches to the sky rising over 100′ where it was once capped with huge rocks. It was noted that a road previously used for hauling logs had wound its way up and over this ridge not far from what once was an old mill site.
Spring of Healing Waters
Traveling the east bank of the Escambia River, the Indians carved out a path used for trade with the earliest Spanish settlements. Along this trail was a spring called “Chumuckla” by the Indians meaning “Healing Waters” in their language. According to tradition, the Indians would camp near this spring when they were ill because of the health-giving qualities they believed the water to have.
