De Leon Springs State Park

De Leon Springs State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)


Location	Volusia County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	DeLeon Springs, Florida
Coordinates	29°08′24″N 81°22′08″W / 29.14000°N 81.36889°W / 29.14000; -81.36889Coordinates: 29°08′24″N 81°22′08″W / 29.14000°N 81.36889°W / 29.14000; -81.36889
Established	1970
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

De Leon Springs State Park is a Florida State Park in Volusia County, Florida. It is located in DeLeon Springs, off CR 3.

Geology

The park covers 611 acres (2.4 km²) of Volusia County, built around a natural sulfur spring, flowing at a rate of about 20 million US gallons (76,000 m³) a day, that remains 72 degrees Fahrenheit year-round and reaches a depth of 30 feet (9.1 m) at the spring boil.

Fauna

Park wildlife includes alligators, white-tailed deer, turtles and otters. Among the birds that can be seen are anhingas, egrets, hawks, limpkins, ospreys, vultures, American bald eagles, American white ibis, belted kingfishers, American coots and great blue herons.

Seasonal sightings may include Florida black bears en route from the Ocala National Forest to the Tiger Bay Wildlife Management Area, manatee seeking relief from the cold during winter and migratory birds such as the swallow-tailed kite, the sandhill crane and teal.

History

Mill house at De Leon Springs, c. 1910

DeLeon Springs was first occupied as early as 8000 BC (a dugout canoe dating back to at least 6000 BC was found on the site) by local Native American tribes. In the 16th century, Spanish forces, possibly including Juan Ponce de León, passed through. The Spanish would return in 1783 after regaining the land from England (who had held it since 1763), granting land near the springs to settlers to establish a plantation called "Spring Garden" where corn, cotton, and sugar cane were grown. Sometime around this time the Seminole began to settle in the area.

The area came under American ownership some time after Florida became a territory in 1821; Colonel Orlando Rees built a mill to grind the corn and sugar. Most of the facilities were destroyed by Union troops during the American Civil War; however, the waterwheel and building remain on the site to this day, now housing a pancake restaurant called the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, owned and operated by local residents.

The Seminole tribe briefly regained the land during the Second Seminole War and sacked the plantation; General Zachary Taylor led the U.S. Army forces to gain control of it in 1838.

The area drew tourists in the 1880s, when it was touted as a winter resort for the springs' alleged rejuvenating powers; it was advertised as a fountain of youth.

Recreational Activities

Canoeing, kayaking, and fishing are permitted in the spring run; swimming is permitted only in designated areas. There is a five-mile (8 km) hiking trail popular for birdwatching (the park is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail). One dead end of the trail leads to Monkey Island, named after monkeys who had escaped from the circus and settled there. Amenities include an enclosed swimming area, pavilions, picnic areas with tables and grills, volleyball courts, a playground, fishing pier, a boat ramp and boat dock. Guided eco-tours are offered by boat from the park to the adjacent Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. A visitor center providing historical, cultural and natural history information is operated by the Friends of DeLeon Springs State Park. The Old Spanish Sugar Mill is now a restaurant, specializing in pancakes which guests prepare on individual griddles at their tables.

Hours

Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

Gallery

References

External links

De Leon Springs State Park at Florida State Parks

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Three Rivers Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Other

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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