Great walking trails through the forest, & paved biking trails. Saw lots of friendly bicyclists…read more Air pump & bicycle tools available for bicyclists near the restrooms. Parking gets full, but there's additional parking north on Fatio. Saw small wild blueberries. A tiny red tick dropped from the trees & landed dangling in my hair. Only saw that one. Great shade & lots of plant diversity. Fun seeing the different trees & plants. Saw a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar also.

I love Lake Beresford. My favorite place to get my outdoor time in. I love how quiet and shady this…read moreplace is. A paved 1.8 mile path to run and even have the option to try the spring to spring trail if you dare. Can't wait for the expansion that's coming.

We hiked and it was an adventure We saw a lot of woodland…read morewildlife. The weather was perfect. Low humidity with pleasant temperatures. The ferry operator was informative and the ride was smooth from the parking lot dock to the island. If you want to experience the real Florida I highly recommend Hontoon Island. Make sure you don't miss the museum and gift shop.

This is a very unique Florida State Park located in Deland. The park is a small island right off…read morethe St.Johns River.You have to take a free ferry to get to the park.There is a playground, grills, restrooms and scenic waterfront views. The island is pet friendly-so we brought our dog.I absolutely loved the giant trees, green grass, beautiful plant life and picturesque water views.It is FREE.

This playground is incredible! A community funded project, this playground is not to be missed - it…read morehas designs and features I haven't seen anywhere else! We love stopping to play here if we are in the Deland area. Freedom Playground has plenty of parking, bathrooms, pavilions with picnic tables, and playground equipment that can be used by a wide range of ages and body abilities. I love that the park has one main entrance gate to keep kids contained and also has the little kid area separate from the big kid area. There are accessibility features like wheelchair accessible ramps for the playground equipment and a ground level merry-go-round. There's plenty of slides, climbing and obstacles, a zip line, pirate ships, pretend play houses, and all the features you would want in a playground. I love the nods to Florida with multiple gators throughout! Freedom Park is a Florida gem!

From what I've read online, DeLand faced the exact same issue that so many municipalities around…read morethe country have faced and continue to face regarding what to do with their playgrounds. At one point in time it was a thing to build these large destination playgrounds made out of wood. While a nice idea on paper, eventually the upkeep proves to be problematic and expensive. Eventually the municipality is faced with the hard choice of costly renovations that will need to be redone in the not too distant future, demolishing the structure or trying to replace it with something more modern/contemporary. Either way it equals a lot of money that usually is nowhere to be found. Thankfully a few years ago DeLand along with residents, area companies, school children and a newly formed non-profit committee figured out how to replace the original wooden structure. Amazingly over 300K in private donations were raised along with DeLand kicking in the rest and what you have today is an amazing structure/facility. In my own area there have a been a few success stories with places like this: www.savekidscastle.org/ But there have also been a few mismanaged disasters with places like this: articles.mcall.com/2004-11-19/news/3571642_1_playground-jungle-gym-time-capsule What works here: * Lots of parking * Solidly clean bathrooms * Lots of shaded areas * Super safe recycled rubber ground which means no tracking mulch into the car * A very needed water fountain * Lots of different structures/play areas/misters that offer a ton of diversity What doesn't work: * At least when we were here the zipline was in sad shape. It needs to be raised up or just gotten rid of it because it was way too low to be enjoyable. I don't want to lay on the hyperbole but honestly aside one other park (Kids Castle in Doylestown, PA) this place is the nicest that I've ever seen and even though my kids are arguably a bit on the too old side to be enjoying a place like this, they still did. Great job DeLand! What an awesome place for the community!

Such a beautiful place to spend a day with endless activities! You can walk the boardwalk, swim,…read moresnorkel, scuba, tube, kayak, or paddleboard down the spring. Fishing is permitted from the fishing dock on the St. Johns River. There is also camping, cabins for rent, hiking, and manatee viewing. You can even rent an all-terrain tracked wheelchair for accesible hiking! You can find a gift shop and a concession stand inside the park. Follow the Blue Spring State Park Facebook page to stay up to date on fun activities and events like Manatee Bingo, Meditate & Move with the Manatees, guided moonlight hikes, and the Junior Ranger Program. My favorite event of the year is Firefly Nights from around mid March to mid April. You get to walk the boardwalk after the park closes to see thousands of Florida fireflies! It is absolutely magical, and a little surreal. Weekdays are less crowded, but honestly if you can only go on a weekend it's worth braving the crowd. It's a separately-ticketed event, and it does sell out some nights so make sure to get your tickets in advance!

The Baseline: For a park/monument the site must be informative, have great attraction, and have a…read morepark rangers that are knowledgeable of one of the park we are visiting. Park: This was one of the cleanest and best organized state parks I have ever visited. The parking was easy and the access to the main attraction was easy to get to. The walkway trail along the spring was well taken care of and safe. There is no graffiti or vandalized buildings in the park. Thank you State of Florida and California you should take notes. Attraction: The Springs are the main attraction with options to swim, tube, snorkel, and scuba dive in the spring in the summer. When we visited that was all restricted because the manatees were here to nest in the winter. This was awesome and it was great to see these amazing creatures in their winter respite. This is a must if you are visiting the Orlando area in the winter. Cost: Six dollars to come into the park with up to 8 people in the vehicle. Great price for an unforgettable experience.

Fun little park just on the beaten path of Woodland Blvd, great place to catch some fresh air and a…read morelittle live entertainment when available. Fun time listening to Anique Jolee! https://instagram.com/aniquejolee?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

A small park with a…read morebig picture Pioneer Park is indeed a small park, just occupies a corner of a couple of streets. It does have a nice fountain, some cool benches and tables and a interesting sculpture of an alligator. A very pleasant place for a little rest while walking around the center of Deland. However what really catches the eye in Pioneer Park is the gigantic mural that takes up the entire side of a building. The mural probably covers more area the the entire rest of the park. The picture is called Pioneers Parceland and I believe it was dedicated in 1996. Huge, stunning and brightly colored, it has amazing detail and shows the early settlers arriving in the area. We just sat there for a long time taking in the beauty and different parts of the mural. It's so large that you actually have to back away at times to take it all in. The mural at Pioneer Park is a extremely mesmerizing work of art that photographs cannot begin to justice to. It has to be seen in person to truly be appreciated. it shows what a progressive town can do with a small and seemingly useless piece of space.

Crazy that we have been here almost 9 years and this was the first time we have driven up here…read more It's very peaceful & I guess it's just the time of year where it isn't busy because there wasn't more then 30 or so here most of the day.

The water is a cool 72° but perfect for the summer heat. In spite of how many people were there, it…read moredid not feel crowded. There is a diving area, a shallow area cordoned off, and plenty of stairs for access. The bathrooms were clean and there was plenty of parking.

Yesterday, my friend, Lydia and I drove to Kelly Springs State Park for fun in the sun and a day of…read morerelaxation. The park is about 40 minutes from where she lives off of colonial. You get to bring your own food and drinks. They also have a concession area where you can just your own food and drinks. At the state park, they have a concession booth and a restroom as well. The park is open from 8 AM to 6 PM and I have a recommend staying at the full day. It was so nice and relaxing plus parking was only three dollars. 10/10

Pretty neat place and I thought it will be way bigger , but the swim area or use of a floating…read moretube area is not huge , You neve to arrived super early as they only allowed 250 cars and then you can't enter after full capacity The sheriff will give you a ticket while u on the car line . They do have restrooms and concession areas where u can buy food , but there's a circle k near by . You can't bring in alcohol, and the price to get in is $5 per car . Just wish that it could be deeper , as it averages 4 ft all areas

Mill Lake Park is a small, but nicely planned out pork in Orange City, Florida. It is on the corner…read moreof East Blue Spring Avenue and South Holly Street and is across the street from the Veterans Memorial Park. According to one sign that I had seen, Mill Lake actually a drainage basin. It was converted into this wet retention area in the late 1960s. It has a nice walkway around the lake that has a few pavilions with picnic tables underneath them at park benches spread throughout. The pavilions also have little grills on their sides. While I was here, there was a group of people enjoying a party of some sort under one of the pavilions. It also appears that they have a little splash park for kids here, but on the day I was here the temperature was in the fifties so no one was there. There are also restrooms at the park. All in all, this is a great little park and I am sure it is embraced by the community. I am going to give this park five stars.

Dog Park only review: It's big and there is water for the…read moredogs. Multiple benches to sit on. Several shade trees. #1. You cannot expect people who bring their dogs here to have any reasonable training nor management of their dog(s). I have been about to enter when a man was chatting with another actually said he,"gave up on the whole idea of training when he couldn't get his dogs to come to him." His dogs were in the park at that moment. We currently have a rescue dog who was abused by other dogs and has an aggression level of Patrick Starfish. I only take him in if no other dogs are inside. A few days ago, he was running his Chariots of Fire, run when a lady came in with three cattle dogs. They immediately chased my dog who ran away to the farthest end of the park and tried to get out the back gate. I told the lady that my dog was scared of other dogs. She literally did nothing. I had to leave my dog's poop and go rescue him. Two of her dogs left bothering him, but one chased him back to the gate when he started to run to me. He was SO panicked we could not walk the sidewalk along the park back to the car (he weighs as much as me and wasn't having it). Yesterday, we found it empty again and he began his happy run and suddenly a big huge black dog was standing there about 15 yards away. His owner told him to leave it & he ignored us and went on about sniffing around the park. I was able to get the leash back on and get out the nearest gate without incident. My dog was scared, but not tormented at all. A long walk and he was back to himself and calm. Thank You to the owner of that big beautiful, well behaved black dog!!

This park is beautiful. I stopped on the way home from the springs to have a picnic at a park. For…read morea Saturday, there was barely anyone there. Kind of surprising given how beautiful the park is. They have areas for walking, basketball, beach volleyball, playgrounds, soccer, tennis, baseball, and exercising. The bathrooms and facilities are all clean. My one complaint is that the picnic pavilions are a far distance from the parking lot if you are lugging around heavy coolers and such. Would go back if we lived closer!

My first time at a spring and it did not disappoint! We came on a Thursday morning. Parking was…read moreeasy and there is a bathroom with showers right next to the parking lot. It's a short walk from the parking lot to the picnic tables and springs. The weather was perfect and the water was crystal clear.

Alexander Springs is one of my favorite springs to snorkel in the summer. The spring head is…read moregorgeous and the water is crystal clear. It is also nice for kayaking! There is a cool little area where you can 'park' your kayak and stand in the water, throw a frisbee, etc. On land, there is a sandy area you can lay out or various picnic tables perfect for lunch and snacks after swimming. I like that there is a reservation system so you can be sure you will be allowed in and don't have to arrive super early to get in line.