W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam

W.P. Franklin is the last lock before the Gulf, at Mile 121.4 on the Caloosahatchee River at Olga. The chamber is 400 by 56 feet and the approach channel is 90 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The lift from sea level to the river level is usually 2 to 3 feet. From here it is 33.2 miles down to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and 27.9 miles back east to Ortona Lock.

This is the busiest of the five: about 15,000 vessels lock through in a year, roughly 97 percent of them recreational. The lock and dam were built in 1965 for flood control, water control, prevention of salt-water intrusion and navigation, with a discharge capacity of 28,900 cubic feet per second.

USACE publishes "56 feet wide x 400 feet long x 14 feet" for the chamber and Coast Pilot 4 gives a depth of 14 feet over the sill. Along with the Julian Keen lock, this is one of the two where the two primary sources match; at St. Lucie, Port Mayaca and Ortona they do not, and at two of those the Coast Pilot contradicts itself as well. Depths change regardless – the gauge at the lock shows the figure that applies on the day.

USACE gives 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., 365 days a year, with the last lockage beginning at 4:30 p.m.; Coast Pilot 4 says the five locks are operated from 0600 to 2130 daily. We show the USACE hours because the Jacksonville District operates the lock. Radio is channel 13 for the locks and 9 for the bridges.

The lock's landline is 239-694-5451, but the lock's own page reports a landline outage during construction and asks callers to use the cell phone 863-662-9908 instead. Everyone aboard wears a Coast Guard approved life jacket and engines are turned off.

W.P. Franklin North, the Corps campground on the north bank, has 8 cruiser sites for boats and 30 Class A tent and RV sites, all with electric and water hookups. Boat and RV sites are $30 a day, with 50 percent off user fees on a Senior or Access Pass, and stays are limited to 14 days within a 30 day period. Booking runs through Recreation.gov or 1-877-444-6777, up to 180 days ahead and no later than 3 days ahead.

There is a boat ramp and courtesy dock with no launch fee, showers and restrooms, and a trailer dump station at $20 for waste generated before camping. The entrance gate is open sunrise to sunset and all visitors are required to leave at 10 p.m. Coast Pilot 4 reports a government operated recreation area with a launching ramp, water and picnic tables on the north side of the waterway next to the lock, and government-owned tie-up dolphins immediately above and below it.