After months in a hot, cramped sailboat, John Bartram must have welcomed the sight of this cool, clear spring at Florida’s Blue Spring State Park.
It was a sunny day in 1766 when the explorer rounded a bend in the St. Johns River and discovered a mysterious stream whose source lay hidden somewhere behind a leafy curtain of oak and bay.
Deep into the woods he rowed his heavy wooden boat, past the sunning alligators and great schools of mullet that had traveled 170 miles from the sea.
The spring, he noted, was about 30 yards across and “boil(ed) up from the bottom like a pot.”
“What a surprising fountain must it be, to furnish such a stream,” he wrote. “Continually boiling up from under the deep rocks, which undoubtedly continue under most part of the country.”
More than two centuries have passed since King George’s official “Botanist for the Floridas” gazed upon the deep, blue spring. Bartram is gone, but the “surprising fountain” has remained virtually unchanged.
Each day, as it has for thousands of years, Blue Spring still spews 104-million gallons of pure, fresh water.
Each fall, as it has for thousands of years, the north wind blows, turning cold the nearby waters of the St. Johns River, forcing the manatees to return in droves to the spring where the water temperature remains a constant 72 degrees.
The gentle sea cows rely on the spring for their survival, so state officials have gone to great lengths to see that their seasonal stay is comfortable.
The manatees can be seen from November through March, especially when the weather is the coldest. Park officials have built a boardwalk and viewing platforms along Blue Spring Run so visitors can see the animals without endangering them.
Swimming is allowed in a designated area separated by buoys from the manatee refuge zone. For more adventurous souls, scuba diving is allowed in the spring.
Divers with proper cave diving instruction enter the spring at a pair of crossed logs and descend against a rising current. At a depth of 100 feet, the shaft opens into a chamber, which, by some reports, contains everything from parts of cars to fossil-bearing rocks.
While the spring is almost devoid of life (mineral rich and not enough oxygen), downstream Blue Spring Run teems with fish.
Visitors walking on the boardwalks may notice huge gar, some 4 or 5 feet in length. They appear to be feeding on the surface, but actually they’re gulping air. A bladder connected to their throats serves as a temporary lung, helping them survive in the oxygen-poor water.
Also visible are largemouth bass, an opportunistic predator that will eat everything from ducklings to mice, and North America’s smallest fish, the 1-inch killifish.
Rental canoes are available for daytrips down Blue Spring Run and the St. Johns River. The park has more than 50 campsites in a pine forest.
Backcountry permits are available for campers who want solitude. A 4-mile trail winds through flatwoods, swamps and oak hammocks to the primitive campsite.
The park has six cabins for rent. Equipped with central heat/air, fireplace, inside bathroom, stove and refrigerator, the two-bedroom cabins cost $55 a night for four people.
Blue Spring State Park is northeast of Orlando, roughly a 2 1/2-hour drive from the Tampa Bay area. If you plan to stay overnight, book early. The cold weather draws manatees and visitors alike.
For more information, contact Blue Spring State Park at 2100 W. French Ave., Orange City, Fla. 32763; 904-775-3663.
