Lafayette Blue
Stop 3/3: Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
North Central Florida Springs Day
FL State Parks Quest: 8/174
22 July 2017
North Central Florida Springs Day Posts
Summary:
After our Garden of Eden hike last weekend, we needed a new adventure. The plan was to hit up Troy Springs State Park and Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. En route, we passed the turn to Lafayette Blue Springs State Park and tacked it onto the end of our itinerary.
Springs are defined as any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. The springs we visited today were either on or nearby the middle stretch of the Suwannee River, also referred to as "spring country". This is the stretch from Suwannee River State Park to Branford, which is home to Troy Springs State Park (Stop 1).
Florida State Parks has created the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail, which is a partnership of camps, hubs, and parks along the river for trail users. The link provides resources to maps, boat ramp locations, float plans, a paddling guide, and outfitters. While Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is not actually part of the Suwannee River springs, it's close by and a very popular attraction for divers. It's being included in this 3-part series because it's right smack in between Troy and Lafayette Blue. I'll save my passport stamp for the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail from when I complete the trail in full in one go. Who's with me?
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Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
- Region: North Central
- Address: 799 NW Blue Spring Rd Mayo, FL 32066
- Hours: Daily 08:00 - Sundown
- Admissions: $5/Vehicle, $4/Single Occupant Vehicle, $2/Non-Vehicle Entry, or FREE with an Annual Pass
- Website: https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Lafayette-Blue-Springs
- Brochure: N/A
- FT Ranger on Site: Yes
- Year Park Opened: 2005
The Gear:
The Story:
My phone ran out of storage while at Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. In hindsight, I could have transferred my memory card from the GoPro to my phone, but I didn't think about that. So I just took all of my pictures with my GoPro.
Lafayette Blue Springs State Park park was on our way home, and it was also the place to get the stamps for both Peacock Springs and Lafayette Blue, the park itself. There was an actual ranger at the entrance of the park, and it was easy to see why. This was a very popular family park. Lots of people - birthday parties, families, Suwannee River paddlers.
Due to the crowds and having already been swimming in two cold springs, we opted to walk around and observe rather than get in the way of all the children playing in the water. We went towards the first magnitude spring since no one else was currently there. We got some good pictures. I tried to get some with the GoPro submerged under water, but it was a rather unsuccessful endeavor. There was a mini forest of cypress knees, and as we were about to wrap up, everyone had decided that we were super cool trendsetters and came over to this side of the spring.
There is a 20 foot natural limestone bridge that crosses over the spring run where it quickly merges with the Suwannee River. This is the headspring. Picture taken from the aforementioned natural bridge.
My most successful attempt at an underwater picture without having to get wet myself. I guess my hands got wet. I love how clear the water is.
Cypress knees! With just the tips being an orange-ish color. They kind of look like whitehead pimples. Now I am thinking about my terrible acne problem from middle school through college. Sigh.
Canoes and kayaks can pull up to the park. There is a pay station at the landing area. The park is between mile markers 103 and 104 on the Suwannee River. The park campground, which is a walk-in tent-only campground, is one of the river camps for people paddling on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail.
There is a boardwalk that I explored next. The main part of the photo shows the spring swimming area that opens into the river.
View of the river from the boardwalk. Notice the quick contrast in water colors.
Swimming area.
We then decided to "hike". Or maybe the boardwalk was the hike? There was at least an interactive sign. And by interactive, there was a 3D Suwannee cooter you can touch. Sorry for the lack of photo clarity, but it was the best I could do. Fun facts from the sign if you don't want to strain your eyes to read it:
- Lafayette Blue is a first magnitude spring, meaning it has flows of greater than 100 cubic feet per second. Specifically it discharges 13-168 million gallons of water daily.
- Springs provide a consistent source of freshwater, contrary to most bodies of water, allowing a permanent array of wildlife to call them home. Never have to worry during a drought.
- There is a network of caves underneath the park with large rooms, some at 100 feet wide and 30 feet tall. The caves are home to the rare pallid cave crayfish, which can only be found in the underground Floridian aquifer in the Suwannee River Basin.
The rest of the "hike" was walking to and from the campground. On the way back we saw a sinkhole. And then I found $5.
Relevant Quote:
[Yes the same quote is being used on all 3 of the posts]"There's probably more history now preserved underwater than in all the museums of the world combined. And there's no law governing that history. It's finders keepers."
-Robert Ballard
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