Phone: 386-775-3663. Hours: Open from 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days a year. Day use admission $6 per vehicle, $2 for pedestrians, bicycles.
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Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park has very high visitation on weekends and holidays and will close when capacity is reached. When this occurs, only registered campers will be allowed to enter. Cash and credit cards are accepted for entrance fee.
Tip: the best time to visit Blue Spring State Park is in the mid morning before the sun is fully up and warming the waters. As the day goes on, the manatees work their way back into the St Johns River. In the morning there are also smaller crowds, so it's much more pleasant.
It's best to get to the spring before 10am. We were there on a Friday around 9:30am, it wasn't crowded at all. But when we left around 12:30pm, more and more people started showing up at the park. Just arrive early and enjoy the spring.
No food or drinks allowed inside tubes. Food and drinks are allowed when kayaking. There are accessible covered pavilions with accessible grills. All pavilions are first come, first served.
Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park is in the north central part of the state, an area well known for the many spectacular freshwater springs found along the Suwannee and Santa Fe rivers.
Inflatable floats and tubes are allowed in the spring and adjacent river. Visitors may bring their own float. To help protect the spring and river, no food, drink, pets, tobacco, alcohol or disposable items are allowed.
Rainbow Springs State Park's refreshing cool waters of the headsprings are a perfect place to go for a swim or snorkel. You can also tube or kayak down the gentle spring run that is known as Rainbow Springs River. Besides the water activities, there are also shady gardens laced with azaleas, magnolias, and oaks.
Description: The spring is 120 feet deep, but only certified cave divers are allow to dive to that depth. Open water certified divers can dive to 60 feet where they would see a big warning sign bolted down at the mouth of the cave telling them to heed the warning and turn back.
It takes anywhere from 50 to 100 years to reach the Blue Spring from its source. Why is the water so blue? The beautiful clear blue-green of the Blue Spring and Te Waihou is due to its purity as particles are removed during its journey through underground acquifers.