ichetucknee springs state park

Beautiful relaxing fun, stunning sights whether you tube or swim, just pack food because the concessions are Spartan

Best tubing river in Fla. Limited amt.of people allowed on upper part by springs. If not there by 9AM probably won't get in. Other sectiions open all day. No drinks,food or tobacco products allowed on river.

Inexpensive because it is a state park. Good facilities (bathrooms, picnic tables, grills, playground) but the real star is the springs. Beautiful, clear and full of life. There is a shuttle service from the south river get out point to the north so you can leave your vehicle there for when you get out. If you want to tube the river it is a great experience, bring your own tube or rent at one of the numerous rental facilities. Or you can spend the day at the main spring swimming, relaxing and enjoying nature.

This was fasinating! Water was super clear! Turtles everywhere! It was a nice trip on a kayak. You can also rent tubes and just let the water take you.

Take your family, friends, cook out, tube down the stream and enjoy yourselves, the view is fantastic, the staff is cordial, the water is very relaxing, kids had a blast, we go quite regularly, it's inexpensive and great family time outing.

We stayed at the nearby campground and rented a double kayak with them. You get dropped at the kayak launch site and then picked up at the end of the ride about 4 miles downstream. It's a beautiful slow ride down the stream. The aquatic vegetation, the color of the water, the haunted looking trees, the several dozen turtles basking in the sun and all of the birds you get to see will keep you adequately entertained. No particular kayaking skills required as the stream will do most of the work for you. Beautiful experience. ..

Highly reccommend State park ! They don't rent tubes there. Make sure you stop and rent your tube before you get there. On US 27 / CR 18 they have two tube rentals. We have rented from both. Great prices and service !

The lower springs takes you on a beautiful walk through the woods where a small deck overlooks the springs. The upper spring is wide open and it's much easier to walk right in. Unfortunately, my young, adventurous daughter got a little too excited and fell in! O, if you go with young ones, and you don't intend to swim, make sure you keep close by!

Having lately concentrated my Florida Springs visits in the Salt-Silver Glen-Juniper-Alexander springs area, it had been several years since I'd been to Ichetucknee. And I was happy to find out that it was as enjoyable as ever--especially because the weather was great. On a weekend when much of the US was experiencing freezing temps and snow, it was in the high 60s-low 70s, and partially cloudy. When I visit springs it is to walk or hike and swim. Ichetucknee has easy, but interesting, trails and two places to swim--the Head Spring (near the parking lot and the change room and showers) and Blue Spring (about 1/3 mile away via a new boardwalk and unpaved trail). One thing that has always confused me is that the Head Spring always looks a lot bluer than Blue Spring. Maybe it's just the light whenever I've been there.This time I decided to swim in Blue Spring. It was cool getting in, but warmer by the springs boils. The cool evenings had an effect on the water near the shore, but the water coming from underground kept its year-round temperature of 72-74 degrees F. The currents from the boils are pretty strong, so swimmers warm up pretty quickly from the effort (NOTE: weak and non-swimmers should probably not attempt to swim in this spring).There weren't too many people swimming at either spring, so the few of us in the water did not crowd each other. However, the fish seemed a little miffed at their privacy being disturbed, and retreated to a side stream; it wasn't easy to get pictures of them, which was probably their intent.As usual for the late fall and early spring, which are the only times I've been to Ichetucknee, the park and the river were also uncrowded. Great time to be there!

We have been here before kayaking, stopped in this time to walk the trails and look at the springs. Water was up and the spring was blue and clear. Little cat in parking lot that I fed chicken to, he was very hungry! Looking forward to when we can come back and kayak

This is one of the most scenic and wonderful kayak trips I have made in Florida. The water was loaded with fish, turtles and even a manatee. Once we made it to the headspring we swam in the cold bu pool like spring. The facilities were nice and the parking was good. Kind of a long way to kayak put in.

First time to this location. We came after labor day so shuttle to/from put in/out points was not running but the walk was pretty and not to hard. The water was amazing and refreshing...not too cold. We wish the tubing run was longer but heard that half of the river run was discontinued due to state budget cuts and the park not being able to man the upper end of the river. Still, it was nice and a fun way to spend the afternoon on an otherwise miserably hot and humid day.

We rented a canoe from the Ichetucknee Family Canoe & Cabins located at 8587 SW Elim Church Rd which is just 1/4 mile west of the State Park's north entrance. They drove us & our canoe to the Head Spring & picked us up 4 miles down stream which took us 2 hours. We went on a Wednesday mid September and honestly only saw 2 other people, just the peace & solitude I had hoped to enjoy. The water was clear allowing easy viewing of the numerous turtles & fish. I am told manatees can be seen December till May. Beautiful birds & flowers, sunbathing turtles and shady trees line the banks. It was a perfect! After we were picked up we hopped in our car to return to the park for a picnic under pine trees.Then we walked to both springs, and finished with an easy loop trail hike close to the river were we saw deer & fawn. What great karma!

This is a wonderful full day or half day activiity involving tubing on the spring fed Ichetucknee River.Pick up a tube or raft at one of the vendors on the way in. Once inside the park, getting to the river is easy. The water is cool and the tubing is a relaxing way to get away from it all as other than the river, trees, birds, wildlife and other visitors, you won't see signs of civilization.Can be crowded during peak weekends.Also, be aware that depending upon your time of arrival, launch points will be closed so check the state park website to get the latest info on launch points.Also, if walking is an issue, check the website to determine if the trams are operating as they typically don't operate outside of the summer season.Its a great day

I took my family (two adults and a 5 year old) to Ichetucknee Springs over the past holiday weekend. I have to say that I was nervous about it being a holiday weekend but it turned out great. Prior to arriving we stopped at Ichetucknee Tube Rentals (see review) and got our tubes. We arrived at the park(north entrance) around 750am and there were already about 8 cars in line. We were given a small paper with some instructions and waited for the park to open. Right at 8am the cars started moving and we paid out $5/person (5& under free). There was a small parking lot that is used for loading and unloading and we found a spot and untied our tubes and grabbed what we needed. While I sat with the tubes at the entrance (nice playground for kids and a swimming hole) my husband drove the car to the mid point and a van brought him back which took total about an hour. Once he was back we walked down to the ramp and threw in our tubes. The water is quite cold and its best if you get wet all at once. After everyone was situated we pushed off. (we forgot out rope to tie together but in all were fine) The entire float down the river is prolly about 3 hours from the north entrance. The "midpoint" where our car was was about 20 mins past mid point. There is a concession stand and also where they will hold your keys for $2. The float was very relaxing and we went early enough that is was not too hot nor too crowded. Every now and then we would run into large tied together groups but nothing that was too irritating. My son had a great time once he learned how to get comfortable in his float. (Get a tube with a bottom for children unless they are fearless.) He would feel the river grass on his leg or belly or butt and freak out. There are many places where you cannot see the bottom due to the grass and there are signs that tell you not to get out of your tube due to potential grass damage. There were the occasional snorkeler mostly in the deeper places or "jumping spots." We saw some big fish, turtles, snakes and a few mosquitoes in some spots. Recommend sunscreen with insect repellent during some months. This month was not as bad and because it has not been too rainy. Over all it was a great trip! We got out at mid point and ate lunch, got a few things we had initially forgotten out of the car then headed back into the river to finish the float, then took the tram back to mid point. Unfortunately the tram service has now ended for the year, and it is a 7 mile walk from North to end. We will for sure be going back next season and we will bring everything and do all the things we learned about on this trip! Things to bring:1. Water shoes or sandals with straps2. Mesh bag 3. Make sure everything you bring CAN get wet!4. Tubes with bottoms for children 5. Sunscreen/Bug repellent6. Water/Snacks (if you have a large enough float/raft to hold things that shouldn't get wet)7. Rope to tie together