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Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park is the newest addition to Florida State Parks!
The park contains a collection of natural springs, including a large second magnitude spring that produces an average of 44 million gallons of water per day. This spring, known as Gilchrist Blue, has outstanding water clarity and discharges water through a shallow spring run about one-quarter mile to the Santa Fe River. The other named springs on-site are Little Blue Spring, Naked Spring, Kiefer Spring and Johnson Spring.
The most significant ecological habitats within the park include the spring run stream and floodplain communities. The main spring run is renowned for its support of a diversity of wildlife species including turtles, fish and invertebrates.
Paddling, snorkeling and swimming are all popular at the main springhead and spring run. Pavilions are available and a concession stand provides food and beverage service. Other popular activities include hiking, nature study and picnicking.
The park features 23 campsites: 16 sites for RV/tent camping (30 amp available) and seven tent-only camping.
For reservations, visit the Florida State Parks reservations website or call 800-326-3521 or TDD 888-433-0287.
Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park is located in Gilchrist County about 5 miles to the west of High Springs, FL off NW 182nd Ave. (CR340) in the north central part of the state along the Santa Fe River. The park is located 25 miles south of Lake City and about 20 miles to the northwest of Gainesville.
Lovely experience. The spring is clean and crystal clear but the water is FREEZING. Don’t miss out on the Canoe experience. RV areas are well equipped with water, electricity fire and are spacious. Cheap entry fees and cheap food. Hotdogs are fine, do yourself a favor and avoid the cheeseburger. Recommend you bring your own food and do a BBQ. Restrooms are a huge nono. Just no.
Must see with they family, great hike, amazing swimming, and you can rent canoes, and kayaks to go adventuring. Has camping and RV spots
Although the spring itself is beautiful, there is nothing pretty about what surrounds it. There is an old wood boardwalk & stairs that have been fenced off with a rather ugly fencing, leaving only one access to the spring and it's the boat launch ramp. And there are some floating rope devices a few feet from the edges with some stagnant looking water inside it. But, the water beyond it in the spring is crystal clear and flowing nicely.
You can rent a canoe or kayak or just bring your own flotation device.
The restrooms are in really rough condition, needing paint & a good cleaning. Needs renovation.
If you are just here for the day to use the spring, it's a nice place to have a picnic & swim.
The trails are interesting, we saw two smaller springs that were closed off, under a restoration. But lovely to view. Bring a walking pole if you have any balance problems, as there are many obstacles along the paths, roots, etc. Plus, the paths can get slightly steep in places. But, it's mostly white sugar sand.
If you plan to stay the night, RV or tent, they have water & electric, but NO holding tank dump. You have to drive to O'Leno park for that. Very inconvenient! Especially since the road into the park is a sandy washboard. We had to leave before our last night, with full holding tanks, we couldn't stay. After driving back down the washboard road, we just couldn't drive back. So, we moved on.
Also, parking in many of the RV spots is a challenge if you have a large rig. Ours is a 33' motorcoach & we couldn't have pulled into our assigned spot if the spot across from us had been occupied, because of the trees & fences surrounding each space. Most RV spots are not level or even close, they are on soft sand which made it difficult with our auto level system. The pads sunk into the sand.
Thankfully, the state has big plans for this park. We will return after the renovations are done, but only if they pave the road into the park.
Recently stayed for one night camping here in late December 2023. I'll preface this by saying I did enjoy the atmosphere! The camping amenities leave a bit to be desired.
We stayed in spot 9 which was spacious and oddly wide. We use a converted travel trailer, so we had plenty of room. Fire pits are located close to the road. Spots are all dirt and a bit uneven. Some large RVs had trouble parking and leveling. The spot next to ours did not have a working water spigot, so they used ours which had a double spigot (one of which we didn't need). We didn't experience it, but we heard about 3 different campsites temporarily lose power around 9 PM. Not many camp sites at all so relatively quiet at night and early morning.
The bathrooms were rough. A large industrial sized ventilation fan was constantly running in both restrooms (*all* the time... Loudly). The camp bathrooms are the same as the public spring bathrooms, so they were a bit dirty by end of day even in winter. The bathrooms were not heated. There was a shower curtain hanging in entry way for each bathroom entry (although there is a regular wooden door - it is just always propped open). Hot water worked well. Sinks have a slab of wood running around foot above to hold toiletries as sink itself is just a pedestal.
The road into the springs and parking area is all dirt and a bit bumpy. No firewood sold in the park at this time.
Lots of barriers around currently (wooden stakes with black tarps) to I believe help with run off. Huge area around the springs is sectioned off as the entire wooden walkway and dock that used to be there is all gone. Spring itself looks pretty beyond that though. They rent kayaks and canoes (put pictures of their pricing noted in December 2023). Had several picnic pavilions not far from spring. Not many benches around near spring itself. No playground. Dogs not allowed near the spring area.
Has potential to be a wonderful state park if a little investment is put into the sites.
Newest State Park in Florida. There was a vent collapse in June 2023 that is a very interesting phenomenon of nature. But the water is back super clear as you can see the sandy bottom. If you want to camp, it has to be this year. In January, the campground will be shut down to remodel. Lots of construction barriers, so they must have had flooding issues. A beautiful place to visit on the cheap! Highly underutilized during the week, so the best time to go! Enjoy Mother Nature!
