Alexander Springs Recreation Area

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Florida has only a small number of first-magnitude springs and this is among the easiest of them to get into: the basin has a gently sloping sand beach running down into clear water that holds at seventy-two degrees whatever the season. Divers go down to the broad mouth of the spring itself. The Timucuan Trail is a nine-tenths-of-a-mile interpretive loop on boardwalk through palm forest, with observation decks over the spring run, and it is shaded the whole way, which matters here in July. An outfitter on site rents canoes for paddling Alexander Run, and unless you have arranged a pickup downstream you paddle back up to the spring. The campground takes sixty-seven units, tents and recreational vehicles up to thirty-five feet, with hot showers and a dump station but no hookups. Gates are open eight until six and campers have codes for the rest of the time. A day-use fee is charged at the entrance, and reservations for the campground go through the national recreation booking line