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Springs Fever: A Field & Recreation Guide to 500 Florida Springs.
3rd Edition by Joe Follman and Richard Buchanan

• Home
• Table of Contents
• Central Florida Panhandle
• Springs Near Tallahassee
• Taylor County
• Withlacoochee River
• Suwannee River
• SantaFe River
• Ichetucknee River
• Ocala National Forest
• Central Gulf Coast
• Other Central Florida
• Northeast FL
• Other Natural Features
• Email us
• Native American

Springs Fever: A Field & Recreation Guide to 500 Florida Springs. 3rd Edition by Joe Follman and Richard Buchanan

Cedar Head Spring (on the Ichetucknee)

Columbia County

Quick Directions (address: 12087 SW U.S. Highway 27 Fort White, FL 32038 (386) 497-4690)

From Branford, drive SE on U.S. 27 for about 10 miles. Turn north (left) at park sign onto State Road 137. Take first paved road on the right (State Road 238) to the park entrance on the right. The spring is between Ichetucknee and Blue Hole Springs. Walk to Blue Hole Spring and follow run from Cedar Head Spring 1,000 feet to the north.

Spring Description

The spring lies at the head of a 1,000-foot run that empties into the pool for Blue Hole Spring in Ichetucknee Springs State Park. The spring area is of irregular shape and perhaps 20 by 50 feet in an area of heavy forest and rolling karst terrain. There is a 5-foot limestone bank on the west side of the run, and a low bank on the east side. Water in the spring is clear, but the spring head is difficult to see due to the overhanging bank and foliage that blocks a clear view. The run is about 15 feet wide and 1-2 feet deep.

Use/Access

• The spring is rarely visited. There was a slight trail along the run to the spring in December 2000. It is likely that the area would be overgrown and swampy in the summer, rendering access more difficult. The pool and its run appear to be used only by animals.
• There is a nature trail along part of the spring run just below nearby Ichetucknee Spring at the canoe/tube put-in on the west side. A shuttle service ferries tubers from the parking area to the river and back from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Tubes must be obtained outside the park.
• Wood ducks were wintering in the spring on date of visit (December 2000).
• This spring is one of a series of springs that form the Ichetucknee River.  Altogether, the springs discharge an average of over 230 million gallons of water per day.
• Park fees are as follows: $6 per vehicle (up to 8 people per vehicle, and no river use/tubing/canoeing); $4 for single car occupant; $4 for 1 – 2 persons on a motorcycle; $2 for pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with annual entrance permits; The cost for tram service is $5.00 plus tax per person. The cost for shuttle service is $7.00 plus tax per person which also includes tram service. Tram and shuttle tickets and wrist bands are purchased at the concession facility adjacent to the parking lot at the South Entrance of the park.
• Tubing at the park can be done from three locations:  North end (3 hours). Mid-point ( 1.5 hours), and Dampier's LAnding (1 hour).  The peak tubing season is from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  A shuttle service ferries tubers from the parking area to the river and back from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  Tubes must be obtained outside the park.  The tubing is in the river and not in the springs.
• A citizen support organization, the Friends of Ichetucknee Springs, Inc., has been established to support Ichetucnkee Springs and its watershed.  For more information, see www.floridastateparks.org/content/friends-ichetucknee-springs-state-park.The park includes bathrooms and picnic facilities, and a concession stand at the south entrance.

Personal Impressions

The authors were glad to finally see the spring after being within 1,000 feet of it on a dozen occasions.  At the same time, they felt like intruders on the unspoiled scene and ruined a perfectly good morning for a dozen wood ducks wintering at the spring head.

Nearby Springs

• Blue Hole Spring
• Ichetucknee Spring
• Mission/Roaring/Fig/Singing Springs
• Devil's Eye Springs
• Grassy Hole Spring
• Mill Pond Spring
• Coffee Spring

Other Nearby Natural Features

• Ichetucknee Springs State Park
• O'Leno State Park
• San Felasco Hammock State Preserve
• Devil's Millhopper State Geologic Site
• River Rise State Preserve