Blue Springs State Park, Florida

January 23, 2014




Blue Springs State Park is a park we return to every year.  Why?  For many reasons and here are a few....




Since we live in NY we never get to see manatees and Blue Springs has them in spades.  This is the wintering ground for the West Indian Manatee; they come to the springs to keep warm and feed out in the St. John river.  One morning there were well over 200 manatees counted in the spring!





This is just a small sampling of the many manatees visiting the spring.

The park may be crowded during the day but after hours it is quiet (with an occasional train going by) so we can take a quick walk or bike down the spring early morning or after park closes and have it mostly to ourselves.  Lots of opportunities to photograph them but I do wish we could get a bit closer on some parts of the spring.


The sites are well spaced and private in this small park; there are a few that are not but they are not on our hot list.







A nice paved bike bath runs north out of the park. Access easy as it is just across the road from the entrance. It is 3.3 miles one way with an add on loop at the end that extends the ride a bit through a park.  Some little hills...unusual for Florida. There are also a few sites that require more than average leveling.

Many, many fish inhabit the spring as well as the manatees.

Reservations are easier to get than parks in southern Florida.

There is a nice quiet hiking trail that we explored this time that is about 8 miles round trip.  Odd that although we have been here about 5 or 6 times, it is the first time we hiked the trail.  Manatee viewing and biking usually kept us busy.



This reminded me of a Monet' painting...for some weird reason.

There is a Walmart within 5 miles and  Moe's Southwest grill even closer!

The bad?  Well...leaving the park during the hours of 10 - 3 daily will get you a wait in line to get back in.  I am not talking about a 10 minute wait either.  One thing I am not sure about is whether being a camper gets you pushed ahead or not.  Having a camping reservation when you first get there DOES get you pushed ahead of most day visitors.  There is only one entry and you have to wait for any cars lining up to get into the park (and there are lines!).  So if you must leave the park either do it before opening or do it 4pm or later.  It is especially easy when the park
is closed!


We will be back!