 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2017) |
| De Leon Springs State Park | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
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| Location | Volusia County, Florida, USA |
| Nearest city | DeLeon Springs, Florida |
| Coordinates | 29°08′24″N81°22′08″W / 29.14000°N 81.36889°W |
| Established | 1970 |
| Governing body | Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
De Leon Springs State Park is a Florida State Park in Volusia County, Florida. It is located in DeLeon Springs, off CR 3.
The park covers 625 acres in Volusia County, built around a natural spring, flowing at a rate of about 20 million gallons a day (Second Magnitude Spring), that remains 72 degrees Fahrenheit year-round and reaches a depth of 30 feet at the spring boil.
Park wildlife includes manatees, alligators, white-tailed deer, turtles and otters. Among the birds that can be seen are anhingas, egrets, hawks, limpkins, ospreys, vultures, American bald eagles, American white ibis, belted kingfishers, American coots and great blue herons.
Seasonal sightings may include Florida black bears (the park is connected to Lake George State Forest and Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge), manatees seeking relief from the cold during winter and migratory birds such as a variety of duck species.
People have been living near the spring at least 6,000 years. Two dugout canoes, 5,000 and 6,000 years old, were found in the spring in 1985 and 1990. They are the oldest canoes discovered in the Western Hemisphere.[ citation needed ]
There are no known records linking Ponce de Leon to the spring. The name of the area was changed from Spring Garden to Ponce de Leon Springs to attract tourists after the Jacksonville, Tampa, Key West Railway was constructed in 1886. Spanish missions, however, were established in the late 1500s. The native people encountered here were referred to as the Mayaca, differing from the Timucuans in that they were fisher-hunter-gatherers, while the Timucuans were sedentary agriculturalists. The Spanish would return in 1783 after regaining the land from Great Britain (who had held it since 1763), granting land, including the spring, to William Williams in 1804. He established the first plantation, calling it "Spring Garden," where corn, cotton, and sugar cane were grown, using enslaved Africans to perform the work.
Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821. The Woodruffs owned the plantation from 1823 to 1830, selling it to Colonel Orlando Rees, who built the only water-powered sugar mill in Florida. John James Audubon visited Spring Garden in January, 1836, where he first painted the limpkin. The plantation was destroyed by the Seminole Indians in December, 1835, at the beginning of the Second Seminole War and again in 1864 by the Union troops during the American Civil War. After the mill stopped operating in 1864, the building deteriorated until only the wheel remained in the late 1800s. For some unknown reason, the mill building was reconstructed in the early 1900s. The building again fell into disrepair until it was renovated by the Schwarze family in 1961. That year they opened the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant, which has operated continuously since then.
The area attracted tourists in the 1880s after the railroad arrived, when it was advertised as a winter resort for the springs' alleged healing powers; it was called the Fountain of Youth. A hotel was built near the spring, and a small steamboat brought visitors by water. In 1925, the fourteen-room Ponce de Leon Hotel was constructed; this was the first resort with all the amenities, attracting more upscale northern clientele. In 1953, after a one million dollar project, the Ponce de Leon Springs attraction opened. It featured Exotic Birds, Alligator Pens, Audubon Trail, Jungle Cruise, Hotel and Peacock Dining Room, Old Methuselah cypress tree, SCUBA School and Museum, and two waterskiing elephants—Sunshine Sally and Queenie! The attraction closed in the mid-1960s, the termite-infested hotel torn down, and the property was operated as a private recreational park. In 1980, a local Save Our Spring group was formed, convincing the State of Florida and Volusia County to purchase the spring and 55 acres for one million dollars. In June, 1982, De Leon Springs State Park opened, with Gov. Bob Graham attending the dedication in August.
Canoeing, kayaking, and fishing are permitted in the spring run; swimming is permitted only in the spring pool. The four-mile Wild Persimmon Hiking Trail meanders through hardwood hammock, cypress swamp and old agricultural fields. Hikers may see white-tailed deer, turkeys, wild hogs and the Florida black bear. The one-half mile paved nature trail is wheelchair accessible; it has interpretive signs and a boardwalk to a 600-year-old bald cypress tree. Amenities include a swimming area, picnic pavilions, picnic areas with tables and grills, volleyball court, a playground, fishing pier, a boat ramp and boat dock. Guided eco-history tours are offered by boat from the park to the adjacent Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. A visitor center providing historical and natural history information is open daily. The Old Spanish Sugar Mill restaurant specializes in pancakes, which guests prepare on individual griddles at their tables. [1]
Recreational SCUBA diving is not permitted, only instructional diving by a certified dive instructor. Cave diving, including free diving, is not allowed.
Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).
Volusia County is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2010 census. It was founded on December 29, 1854, from part of Orange County, and was named for the community of Volusia, located in northwestern Volusia County. Its first county seat was Enterprise. Since 1887, its county seat has been DeLand.
Homosassa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,578 at the 2010 census.
The Nature Coast is an informal, unofficial region of the U.S. state of Florida. The broadest definition of the Nature Coast includes the eight counties that abut the Gulf of Mexico along the Big Bend Coast defined by geologists: from west to east, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties. The name "Nature Coast" was originally devised as part of a marketing campaign to promote tourism in Levy, Citrus, Hernando, and parts of Marion and Pasco counties.
Ponce de Leon Springs State Recreation Area is a Florida State Park in Holmes County, Florida, USA. It is located in the town of Ponce de Leon. The park, which was created to provide public outdoor recreation and other park-related uses, was initially acquired on September 4, 1970, using funds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. Its self-proclaimed purpose is to develop, operate and maintain the property for outdoor recreation, park, historic, and related purposes, offering abundant opportunity for nature appreciation and wildlife viewing. Its primary recreational activities include swimming in the spring and hiking along the park's nature trails.
Blue Spring State Park is a state park located west of Orange City, Florida, in the United States. The park is a popular tourist destination; available activities include canoeing, SCUBA diving, kayaking, fishing, camping, hiking, wildlife watching, and swimming. The spring in the park is the largest on the St. Johns River. Due to its relatively warm temperature of 73 °F (23 °C), the spring attracts many Florida manatees during the winter. About 102 million US gallons (390,000 m3) of water flow out of Blue Spring into the St. Johns River every day.
Suwannee River State Park is a Florida State Park located near Live Oak. It offers some of the best backcountry canoeing opportunities in the state. Visitors can see cypress trees, southern magnolia, herons, American coots, turtles and hawks. The park is open year-round.
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park is a Florida State Park in Flagler Beach, Florida. It is three miles west of Flagler Beach on CR 2001, south of SR 100, and contains the ruins of an ante-bellum plantation and its sugar mill, built of coquina, a fossiliferous sedimentary rock composed of shells. It was the largest plantation in East Florida, and was operated with the forced labor of enslaved Africans and African Americans.
Collier–Seminole State Park is a Florida State Park located on US 41, 17 miles (27 km) south of Naples, Florida. The park is the home of a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, the Bay City Walking Dredge used to build the Tamiami Trail through the Everglades. The park includes of 6,430 acres (26 km2) of mangrove swamp, cypress swamps, salt marshes, mangrove river estuaries, and pine flatwoods. Among the wildlife of the park are American alligators, raccoons, ospreys, and American white ibis. brown pelicans, wood storks, bald eagles, red-cockaded woodpeckers, American crocodiles, Florida black bears and Big Cypress fox squirrels also inhabit the park.
Ichetucknee Springs State Park is a 2,241-acre (9.07 km2) Florida State Park and National Natural Landmark located 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Fort White off State Road 47 and State Road 238. It centers around the 6-mile-long (10 km) Ichetucknee River, which flows through shaded hammocks and wetlands into the Santa Fe River. The park contains hardwood hammock and limestone outcrops. Like many rivers in this part of North Florida, the Ichetucknee is fed by natural springs which boil up from the aquifer. The state of Florida purchased the property in 1970 from the Loncala Phosphate Corporation for $1,850,000.
Manatee Springs State Park is a Florida State Park located six miles west of Chiefland on SR 320, off US 19. Manatee Spring is a first magnitude spring that flows directly into the Suwannee River by way of a short run. Present also are swamps and hardwood wetlands along the Suwannee, along with many sinkhole ponds, including one with a cave 90 feet below the ground that connects to a popular divers' destination known as the catfish hotel.
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Tomoka State Park is an 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) Florida State Park located along the Tomoka River, three miles (5 km) north of Ormond Beach on North Beach Street.
Wekiwa Springs State Park is a 7,000-acre (28 km2) Florida State Park in Apopka, Florida. It is located 20 minutes north of Orlando, off Interstate 4 at exit 94, near Altamonte Springs and Longwood. The park also contains the head water of the Wekiva River. It also serves as the headquarters of one of the state's five AmeriCorps Florida State Parks chapters.
The Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in north central Florida, twenty-five miles west of Daytona Beach, off U.S. Highway 17 in DeLeon Springs.
The New Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins is a historic site in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, at 600 Old Mission Road, one mile west of the Intracoastal Waterway. On August 12, 1970, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Vortex Spring is a commercially operated recreation, camping and dive park located near Ponce de Leon, Florida. It is the largest diving facility in the state of Florida.
The Lake George State Forest is a designated protected area and state forest in the U.S. state of Florida. The 21,176-acre (8,570 ha) forest is located in northwestern Volusia County, Florida, near Lake George and the communities of Pierson, Barberville, and Volusia. It is overseen by the Florida Forest Service within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Florida.
Nocoroco is the site of a Timucuan village located on the Tomoka River, in Tomoka State Park. The park is located two or three miles north of Ormond Beach, Florida on North Beach Street.
Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park is a Florida State Park in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. This 6,000 acre (24 km2) wildlife sanctuary, located south of Tallahassee, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and designated a National Natural Landmark.
Healing Waters—A History of De Leon Springs State Park. Brian L. Polk. 2017.
FloridaStateParks.org/DeLeonSprings.
