Ichetucknee Springs

I have to report back to work next week, so we decided to go tubing on the Ichetucknee as our "last hurrah" of summer.  The kids have never been before, so we decided to only do half of the river.  We started at the midpoint and floated for an hour and a half to the final take-out point.  They loved it.  I think next time we will do the full distance.  

The Ichetucknee is a spring-fed river in north-central Florida.  The water is clear and a bit cold- which makes it perfect for a hot day.  Owen stayed in his tube the whole distance, but Olivia liked to get out and swim.  She used her goggles to see the fish in the water.    

 After our float trip we returned our tubes and drove to the north entrance to the park.  There are a couple of natural springs at this end of the park.  We tried to swim in the very deep Blue Hole Spring, but it was crowded and the kids were reluctant to get in because it was so deep.  We ended up going to the Ichetucknee Head Spring instead.  It was a shallower and less crowded- there was even an area where Owen could stand, so he stayed there. We could easily see the opening of the spring.  Since the water flows from an aquifer, the spring maintains a super cold year-round temperature of 72 degrees.  We swam around the spring for a bit and then we headed home.  We all enjoyed our trip to the Ichetucknee very much and look forward to a return trip.