Summary of Features
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For maps, latitude/longitude data, driving directions, satellite imagery, and topographic representations as well as weather conditions at this spring, go to Greg Johnson's informative "Florida Springs Database" web site at the following address: http://www.ThisWaytothe.Net/springs/floridasprings.htm#Florida
Spring Description
The spring forms a large circular pool about 150 feet across. There
is a retaining wall/sidewalk around the eastern 2/3 of the pool, an artificial
beach on the north side, woods on the south side, and the spring run to
the west. A diving/jumping platform extends over the deepest part of the
basin from the NNE. The bottom below the platform and extending into the
middle of the spring slopes down to a depth of about 18 feet. Water is
very clear and an intense blue.
Much of the bottom is sandy, and the are numerous small and large sand boils. Some flow points "blow" small particles of wood and shells. A section of the bottom is covered with a layer of mostly liquefied black detritus about a foot thick. Water flowing from beneath this layer makes the black material churn and boil on the bottom. A few bream swim here and there over the boils. More sand boils are in the lower part of the pool nearer the run and the wading beach. Bream and bass were more plentiful in this area. The spring run is thick with hyacinth and shaded with a canopy of trees. The run feeds the Waccasassa River, which flows through the Waccasassa Bay State Preserve to the Gulf of Mexico. Land to the west and south of the spring is thick hardwood and floodplain forest.
Use/Access
The spring seems incongruous placed in this rural spot, as if it were dropped from the sky. The roiling black bottom is a must-see for snorkelers—there are as many boils in this spring as in any spring the authors have seen, and they have not observed the black layer in any other spring.
Nearby Springs
Other Nearby Natural Features