Pea River

Traveling down the Pea in early spring with the wild azaleas blooming and the cypress just turning green is a hint of the wonder of the diversity of this state. We saw alligators, great blue heron, osprey and heard frogs, purlean warbers as well as yellow billed cukoos. The Pea River, the largest tributary of the Choctawhatchee, is formed in Bullock County southeast of Union Springs and flows generally southwest for about 128 miles to join the Choctawhatchee near Geneva in Geneva County a short distance north of the Florida line. The Pea River subwatershed encompasses 1,542 square miles and sits just west of the Choctawhatchee mainstem. It flows 68 miles to Elba, then south for about 30 miles to the west of Samson, then gradually turns east and dips slightly into Florida before joining the Choctawhatchee River at mile 91.7 south of Geneva. 93% of the subbasin is in Alabama and 7% in Florida. (Corps) Fisheries in the Pea were assessed by Scott Mettee in 1970. He found 47 of the total 129 species found in the Choctawhatchee basin. The Pea is the only habitat for the green sunfish in the basin. (Corps) (For more information, please visit Rivers of Alabama)