Our Florida Springs Adventure – Part 3: Blue Springs

bluesprings4

We made it to our last spring that is less than an hour from our hometown, Winter Springs. Ugh, from here on out we’re going to have to get up earlier than 7:30 to make it to a spring before it packs out. No more sleeping in on the weekends for us!

Admission Fee: 

  • $6.00 per vehicle. Limit 2-8 people per vehicle.
  • $4.00 Single Occupant Vehicle.
  • $2.00 Pedestrians, bicyclists, extra passengers, passengers in vehicle with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Pass.

Hours: 8:00 AM until the sun goes down.

I’ve been to Blue Springs a couple of times and I can honestly say, it’s not my favorite. I’ve tried to give it a couple of chances and each time we go, I end up freaking out due to the vast amount of alligator gar moseying along in the spring. Once people start getting in the water, that’s when the alligators and manatees start to move away from the spring and more towards the St. Johns River. But not those gar! Nope, they prefer to sneak up on ya when you’re snorkeling down the spring. Every time I swim in Blue Springs I’ll always end up looking over and they’ll be swimming right next to me. Those sharp teeth scare me to death!

NOTE: Alligator Gar are harmless. They’re just scary looking!

While Blue Springs isn’t particularly my favorite spring, it is one of Kevin’s absolute favorite places to go. He told me it is mainly because of all the space. Not only near the pavilions and playground, but the spring itself it quite spacious. There’s a wide assortment of swimmers; some prefer to float in a tube (no rules on how big your tube can be!), some snorkel, and you’ll find others scuba diving at the beginning of the spring. Because of it’s vast variety of people, it makes for a VERY popular spring. We showed up around 8:30 AM and to our surprise there were already two parties being set up and most of the picnic tables were taken!

bluesprings9

One of the pavilions at the spring. 

bluesprings12

Also had a volleyball net, and playground!

bluesprings

Panoramic view of the spring!

bluesprings2

The amount of algae currently in the spring made the water look more green. 

bluesprings19

bluesprings24

Past the sign leads you down towards the St. Johns and swimmers are not allowed.

bluesprings23

Beware of alligators!

bluesprings22

This is part of the swimming area.

bluesprings3

Kyaking is allowed in the spring except from the hours of 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Although I’m not sure why, because we noticed all the swimmers were trying to stay out of their way. It seemed a little dangerous in our opinion. 

bluesprings20

As always, there was a hiking trail! 

Although it’s not my favorite spring, it has some history there that I love! They have a house called the Thursby House that they have restored and it’s open to the public. Kevin and I had a lot of historical conversation upon reading and visualizing what it would be like to live back in the 1800’s.

bluesprings6

bluesprings18

Thursby House

bluesprings17

You can clearly tell who takes all the pictures!

bluesprings13

Some of the stuff left behind. Sorry for the glare, everything’s behind glass!

bluesprings14

There was a furnace in almost every room.

bluesprings15

Back of the house. 

bluesprings16

The original outhouse.

All in all, it was a good day! The spring is very quiet so early in the morning, but as always, keep in mind that springs pack out fast. The Thursby House and seeing manatees are always my favorite.

Want to see what it’s like to swim in the springs? Check out our first GoPro video of Blue Springs! Lots of alligator gar, manatees, and a visual of where the spring pumps it’s water from. Click the link below and check it out!

Our Florida Springs Adventure – Part 3: Blue Springs (GoPro style)

 

 

You may also like

28 Comments

  1. Oh I remember when we visited there, that place is amazingly beautiful.
    Loved the post btw, keep up the good work:-)

    <3: Jasmin N | littlethingswithjassy.blogspot.fi

    1. Yes, it was fun! Not my favorite spring but still, it’s beautiful there. Thank you so much 🙂

      xo

      Ashlyn

  2. What an interesting place! Love the alligator signs. You don’t see that out here in Cali. I’ll have to remember that place whenever I venture east.

    1. Ooooo I love Cali! Yeah, here in Florida you always have to watch out for alligator. Have fun traveling east someday!

      xo

      Ashlyn

    1. Not an all day thing, it said 4.5 miles to the end. We usually only walk .5 miles of every trail we run into due to us wanting to spend most of the time in the spring. However, the trails will give you an in depth experience of natural Florida.

      xo

      Ashlyn

    1. I’ve been there plenty of times and I’ve yet to see a gator but apparently they’re there. Good thing there’s enough people around to scare them away!

      xo

      Ashlyn

    1. I love nature (besides snakes, haha) and it’s been fun getting to go around to all the different springs! Thank you 🙂

      xo

      Ashlyn

    1. Yeah, I’m not a fan of the native Florida animals myself! You just have to keep an eye out, but the people scare them all away usually. 🙂

      xo

      Ashlyn

    1. Oh yes, it’s definitely a Florida thing! 🙂 No worries, the alligators move more towards the lake once there’s people in the springs!

      xo

      Ashlyn

    1. Really?! I cannot stand living here. However, the springs make Florida a little big better 🙂

      xo

      Ashlyn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *