Econlockhatchee River
| Econlockhatchee River Econ River | |
|---|---|
Econlockhatchee River from the Florida Trail bridge | |
| Etymology | "Rivers of mounds" |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Central Florida |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Lake Conlin north of Holopaw |
| • coordinates | 28°14′29″N 81°6′31″W / 28.24139°N 81.10861°W |
| • elevation | 92 feet (28 m) |
| Mouth | |
• location | St. Johns River near Puzzle Lake |
• coordinates | 28°42′13″N 81°1′42″W / 28.70361°N 81.02833°W |
• elevation | 3 feet (0.91 m) |
| Length | 87.7 km (54.5 mi) |
| Basin size | 173,143 acres (700.68 km2) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Ecolockhatchee - Saint Johns River - Atlantic Ocean |
| River system | Saint Johns River |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Disston Canal, Turkey Creek, Little Econlockhatchee River |
The Econlockhatchee River (Econ River for short) is an 54.5-mile-long (87.7 km) north-flowing blackwater tributary of the St. Johns River. The Econ River flows through Osceola, Orange, and Seminole counties in Central Florida, just east of the Orlando Metropolitan Area (east of State Road 417). It is a designated Outstanding Florida Waters.
The origin of the river's name is not known definitively. In 1839 the spelling was recorded as “Econ-like Hatchee”. It is theorized that this represents a Muscogee name meaning “earth-mound stream”, with “econ-like” coming from ēkvnv (/iːkaná/), ‘earth, land’, and like (/léyki/), ‘sitting’, plus hvcce (/háčči/), ‘stream’.
The river flows north from its source, Lake Conlin, through the Econlockhatchee River Swamp (see below) south of State Road 528. Near the City of Oviedo, the tributary Little Econlockhatchee River joins, and the river turns east as it flows through the Little Big Econ State Forest. The Econlockhatchee joins the St. Johns River near Puzzle Lake. The river's floodplain is forested for its entire length.