Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park in Gilchrist County, Florida

Photograph: Blue Springs FL (30381160).jpg by KlipschFan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Restored from the credited Wikimedia Commons file, normalized to the consistent attraction-card frame and converted to WebP by 1stFlorida.com. Portrait originals retain their complete composition over a softly blurred extension of the same photograph.

Gilchrist County attraction

Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park

Gilchrist County · North Florida & First Coast

Five springs in one park on the Santa Fe River, with 44 million gallons a day pushing out of the main vent.

QUESTIONS THAT NAME THIS PLACE

Which Florida Springs Can You Swim In?

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park sits at 7450 Northeast 60th Street in High Springs, on the Santa Fe River. Gilchrist Blue Spring itself is a sizable second-magnitude spring putting out 44 million gallons a day. The vent is over 20 feet deep and the pool it feeds is broad and shallow toward the edges, which is why families use it. The run from the spring down to the river is shallow enough to wade. Five named springs lie on the property altogether, among them Little Blue Spring, Naked Spring, which is a natural oval pool, and Johnson Spring, scattered through the floodplain forest and reached by trail. A 1.8-mile nature trail loops through that forest and passes them. Swimming, wading and snorkeling are allowed in the spring run, and canoes, kayaks and paddleboards can be rented near the boardwalk. Hurricane Irma damaged the original long boardwalk and a shorter one now gives access. Camping runs to 25 sites: numbered ones in the open for recreational vehicles and lettered ones under oak canopy for tents. On summer days and weekends the park fills and the front gate is shut when it reaches capacity, so come early

GETTING THERE

Get Directions ↗Official place website ↗

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