WATER & COAST
Spring Park
Clay County · North Florida & First Coast
The spring that named Green Cove Springs still runs here, filling a public pool and then spilling down a rock ledge toward the St. Johns River.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
Spring Park sits behind City Hall at 200 Spring Street in Green Cove Springs, under old live oaks hung with Spanish moss, and runs about eight tenths of a mile along the St. Johns River. The spring at its head is third magnitude, holds a steady 77 degrees all year and pushes out more than 80,000 gallons an hour, clear enough to see roughly 28 feet down. The water fills a public swimming pool, then falls over a rock ledge and runs as a spring run to the river. The town grew up around that water more than a century ago as a spa resort, and people still come to swim in it. The pool opens Tuesday through Sunday from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening for a small charge; the park itself is free and open daily, including evenings. A long pier reaches out into the St. Johns and anglers use it. There is a kayak launch at the south dock, a pedestrian bridge over the spring run, playgrounds, restrooms, picnic tables, pavilions and bench swings set to face the water. The city holds its holiday events here. During the Second World War the river carried Navy ships, and more than 600 of them were later mothballed along piers just south of the park
Keep comparing