While in Lake City on business, I found this cool little park in the "downtown" area. It was by no…read moremeans a big oark, but I can see it being an integral part of Lake City. I would recommend if you are in the area to come and check it out.

Great place to go for a walk and experience nature. Plenty of bird watching opportunities, can see…read moreturtles and other wildlife, but they call it Alligator Lake for a reason so be weary of gators along the water

Beautiful lake with a small pier for fishing or whatever. I saw a small gator luckily it kept its…read moredistance. I'd like to go back for a picnic.

There are so many springs in Florida I've been wanting to visit. I finally made the time to check…read moreout Ichetucknee in Fort White, FL. This spring was one hour 45 minutes from Jacksonville. My friend and I traveled to Alachua Friday after work and stayed in a new Hampton Inn. I didn't want to get up early Saturday to drive nearly two hours and Alachua was roughly 20 minutes from the park. Lake City, the same distance as Alachua, had higher priced hotels. No thanks! I reserved our tubes and paid for the tram ride online a few days prior. We arrived at the park about 8:45 AM, with a 9 AM reservation for the tubes. There was a bit of a wait to enter the park. I suggest having $6 cash (park entry fee) ready as this will shorten your wait time. They do accept credit cards too. Parking was open so we found a shaded spot. We checked in at the wooden canapy and were given wrist bands and a key tag and advised to get in line to drop off my car key (they will hold for $3). You don't want to lose your key in the river;) We were also given a paper to pick up our tubes. Be sure to pick up a water proof pouch for your phone prior to arrival. I found one at Walmart for $5. And bring a metal cup if you want water while floating down the river or checking out any of the springs as they DO NOT allow plastic water bottles. Lastly we picked up our tubes which was pretty quick. Then we followed the path to the river entry. There was a park employee there checking bags including our water proof phone pouch (we had to show both sides). Check the website for items you are not permitted to take on the river. The tube ride was roughly 45 minutes to an hour. We saw birds, turtles and fish. Thankfully we saw no snakes or alligators, but they are around as it's a 2,000 acre park. The ride was relaxing as well as nature's sounds! Highly recommend! Once at the end, we hopped off our tubes and walked to the tram pickup spot. If you don't want to pay for the tram there is a walking trail leading back to the parking lot. No thanks lol! You can ride as many times as you want. We only did it once as we wanted to check out the Blue Hole. We had to leave the south entrance of the park and drive 10 minutes to the north entrance. One park entry fee allows you to access both park entrances. We walked a 10 minute shaded trail back to the Blue Hole. I slowly entered the 72 degree water via metal stairs. I swam for a short period as it was cold lol. But gorgeous blue water with a strong current due to the underwater caves. I suggest bringing snorkeling gear so you can see the caves below. There was also a bigger area of springs you could relax and swim a short walk from the parking lot. It was a fabulous day at the springs. I look forward to going back again!

Beautiful, special place!! Just wish we had the time to see MORE!!…read more Not that there's anything wrong with all the beautiful (but at times EXTREMELY overcrowded/commercialized...) beaches of Florida, and if theme parks are your thing, FL is your place, but this park, in this wonderful, semi-undiscovered (by most travelers from up north, and even other Floridians, it seems...) part of the state is where I hope to return again and again!! Yes, I hear it gets MUCH more crowded on weekends/summer season, but if you plan well and/or get lucky on an "off" day, you'll have as WONDERFUL an experience as my friend and I did during a recent visit, and get busy planning your NEXT visit before you've even left the exit!! We arrived early to tube. The park's website was not quite as user-friendly as it could have been, but we figured it out, and reserved for an early tubing trip down the river. After a quick-ish hike with our tubes on a path through the woods (I think you can also take the tram...) we launched off the dock and took a BEAUTIFUL, peaceful ride down the river. Since we were there on a weekday, crowds were not bad at all, and we had a wonderful, leisurely float down the river, passing kayaks, other tubers, and paddle boards, along with MANY turtles, beautiful birds, and even a stealthy manatee!!

This is a historic CCC park! Lots of great trails and campgrounds. Close to many other springs and…read morewithin minutes to some places of interest outside the park!

We love this park! Such history and beauty. The campsites are long, wide and not on top of each…read moreother. Staff and rangers are friendly and welcoming. Lots of trails along the Santa Fe River. So neat to see the River Sink where the river ends and goes underground through caverns to reemerge three miles away at the River Rise!!

Park was easy to find, didn't cost much to get in just few dollars and has nice swim area and…read morelaunch to put in kayaks..

Rum Island is a park maintained by Columbia County. It offers access to the Santa Fe River for…read morelaunching boats (canoes and kayaks are especially popular) and access to a small spring for swimming. This spring is right on the river and will "brown-out" (become overflowed by dark river water and made less-appealing for swimming) when the river rises or when the natural flow of the spring decreases. Much of the time it is clear though and because the admission to Rum Island is free, it's a popular spot in the summer. I've free-dived the spring and it's often a bit dark but you sometimes can see a lot of fish. Though the county has provided a walkway and boardwalks leading into the spring, they only furnish Port-a-Potties for restrooms and there is nowhere (aside from your car) to change clothes and no showers. That said, let's be grateful to Columbia County for providing it at all. The name comes from the fact that the actual island which is in the river (and can be reached via canoe or swimming) was used apparently during Prohibition as a bootlegger's hideaway. Because it's now a county park, you cannot drink rum or any liquor here now, alas. Several families living on the long, twisting, road to the park have dogs and cats that may be in the road, so please go slow and be careful so you don't hit someone's pet.

One of our top 5 favorite springs to visit, perfect for the family and great spot to visit when you…read moretrying to cool down from the sun. You can rent kayaks here and go down the Santa Fe. Lots of parking but sometimes can reach capacity on the weekends. No inflatable floats in the spring is kind of lame but you can bring noodles.

This is a small and very accessible park that has one swimming hole open currently. It was quite…read morewarm the day we were there and don't was pretty crowded. Water is a bit chilly but you get used to it. The blue hole (spring source) is about 20-25 feet down - a pretty easy snorkel. Not a lot of current. Shallow areas are good for kids and there is kayak/canoe rentals to paddle downstream to the Santa Fe River. Bathrooms were a bit disgusting. Smelled of raw sewage. A good place to spend a few hours.

Wow!! Small park. Big Fun!! If you are in the White Springs area you have to check this place out…read more About an hour and a half west and north of Jacksonville. Just a 1.5 mile trail. 3 miles in all. The scenery is amazing. Beautiful views of the historic Suwannee River all along the trail. Hike ends at the majestic Big Shoals. Your experience will depend on the water level of the river, but ours was pretty impressive. Park is pristine. Trails are well maintained and easily accessible. We went in the middle of the week and were the only people there. It's really hot in the summer,so make sure you have water available. Don't miss the bat house at the very beginning of the trail. If the bats hear your voice they will start moving around and making noise. Great old Florida experience.

Great park and you pretty much have it all to yourself. Nice swimming area with a place to put in…read morekayaks and canoes. Several trails of reasonable distance if you are into hiking. Slightly off the beaten path past White Springs, but if you missed it in my opening statement, it is a nice facility, well maintained, and you will probably be the only human there.

This review is for the park itself. We love this park and the serene tranquility that we experience…read moreeach time we come to spend the night it makes for a complete experience being close to the I-10 but far enough that makes it different than other stops with more traffic This time of the year the proximity to the Suwannee River does not have the same effect as in hotter months where mosquitoes can eat you good. March and April have always been our favorite months for a quick overnight stay and when the Museum was open we have stayed longer. Dog poop bag stations are well stocked unlike other State Parks, but I am still concerned about their budget. Almost sure it is the best State Park of Hamilton County Time to make reservations, there are months that bookings are almost impossible since kayaking and canoeing are popular sports on the River

Very informative and educational. Will be back to walk some of the trails in cooler weatherread more

While waiting for our dog at UF small animal hospital, we decided to spend some time touring around…read moreand we happen to cross Millhopper State Park. And we noticed that there was a sink hole that promised a beautiful view. It was a long way down in a long way up, but the scenery. The view was very beautiful, clean fresh air, and it seemed to be a very popular place. If you haven't been here I would highly recommend you give it a look. It's very well worth a walk and the exercise and fresh air is good for you. The only thing that kind of bothered me was the honor system for people to go down and visit the sinkhole. It's only two dollars per person or four dollars a car load. People were not donating or picking up after their dogs. The park is beautiful but I bet it would be stunning during spring.

Such a great attraction and landmark to visit! You really feel one with nature and history standing…read moreat the bottom of this sinkhole! Low cost and safe! There are a lot of stairs so unfortunately not accessible for those who cannot climb up and down stairs but the nature park is still pretty!

Great little spot. Tons of space to have a picnic. Looks to be a hot spot during the summer…read more There's a volleyball net, restrooms & trash cans placed throughout. Even little grills To cook out. We came after it poured down. Not the most ideal LoL it made for a mosquito haven. We went on the short nature trail but water had flooded a lot of the areas to look down at the water. Park ranger on duty at all times during business hours. Glad we came.

Absolutely loved our stop at what was voted the best swimming hole in the U.S by USA Today! We came…read morehere late Sunday morning. There were already a good amount of people and the parking lot was almost full, but there was still plenty of space for people in the springs. There isn't a lot of space to put your belongings as there aren't really any large open spaces, but people pretty much just put their stuff where they can. You can either enter the springs via some stairs that take you right to the deep portion, or you can walk around the springs and enter at a shallower section. If you do go in at the shallower section, be aware that there's quite a strong current that can be difficult to fight against to get into the deep area. I would also recommend chacos or sandals of some kind as there are a lot of rocks in the shallower end that can be very slippery. The water is VERY cold, so be prepared for that, but know that it will also feel amazing afterward and soak any body aches/pains away. The springs are one of the most beautiful swimming areas I've seen--so much beautiful nature surrounding it. If I could go there WITHOUT the loud crowds of people, it would be the most absolutely perfect spot to relax and spend a day. Even with that it was fantastic and I would 100% return.