The best antidote for cabin fever is canoeing the Middle Fork on the first warm sunny day in February. The water is clear and swift, fed only by pure groundwater. The leafless woods are open, and the sun reflects off the white bark of the sycamores. Canoeists can see deer and other year-round resident wildlife, and occasionally the more elusive coyotes, wild turkeys, beavers and river otters. The best time for viewing wildlife is during the spring bird migration before the trees leaf out. And by summer the lush vegetation and lower water levels give the river a distinctly cozy feeling. Access points are located at Kinney Ford, Higgensville Bridge, Bunker Hill in the Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area and near the west entrance bridge in the USGS data site.