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Cold and refreshing... not to mention breath taking beauty. We even saw a manatee and her baby calf.
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Date of experience: October 2020
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If you like a family camping experience, this is the place to be! At first we thought "wow, we're close to our neighbors", but everyone was respectful, and it ended up feeling like we were camping with friends by the time our trip was over. We camped at site #12. The spring is beautiful and there's a 1/4 mile spring run where you can kayak or tube in totally clear water until it hits the Sante Fe where the water turns brown (due to the cypress trees). The only drawback was that the bathroom/showers are shared with the day visitors, but since they left at 7:45 p.m., we just used the facilities the most in the evenings. The bathrooms are cleaned every morning between 7 - 8 a.m. Overall, we give our experience two thumbs up! And it's close to Ichetucknee Springs, which was a blast!…
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Date of experience: September 2020
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I know this park as Gilchrist Spring State Park. It is a gorgeous spring offering camping, snorkeling, swimming, canoeing, paddle boarding, kayaking, a mile hike, and picnicking. They have covered pavilions, not sure if they are first come first serve or reserved as well as a few scattered picnic tables. There is a small beach area to the entrance into the ‘pool’ area of the spring. The parking lot was fairly small and all sand. The driveway in is also all sand. The mile hike is a path full of tree roots and the like so not great for those with difficulty in walking and definitely not good for a wheelchair. The water is a spring which means the temp is always a chilly 72 degrees. Restrooms are available with showers and changing area. $6 for a car load which we had 4 people.…
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Date of experience: August 2020
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We've visited a lot of Florida State Parks and in terms of natural beauty this on is not to be missed! The spring is amazing and that kayaking/canoeing on the Santa Fe River is definitely worth it. We camped here for one night and that was plenty. This park is on the smaller/less developed than most others I've seen so there really isn't much hiking or anything to do besides swim in the spring. It was worth it to camp because you basically have the spring to yourself in the evening. The facilities were below par compared to most state parks. The entrance road is long and super rough. The campground is very small and not very private. The bathhouse looks like it was built in the '50s and not updated (or deep cleaned) since. It's my understanding that this had been a private attraction and the state only acquired it a few years ago. I know they're working on fixing a lot of the facilities but it might be a while yet before improvements really get made.…
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Date of experience: August 2020
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While doing our kayak trip stopped in for lunch and it was fun to sit and enjoy the water and it was fun to look at the little caves. It does seem like it’s a little lower than what it used to be water level wise.
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Date of experience: August 2020
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