Ham612982 Cascade and Seeps
Hamilton County
Summary of Features
- Scale-3rd magnitude
- Scenery-excellent
- How Pristine?-completely pristine
- Swimming-no
- Protection-unknown
- Crowds-some visitors on warm weekends
- Access-good, canoe only
- Facilities-none
- Safety-good
- Scuba-no
- Cost-$5 to put canoe in at Madison Blue State Park; free if put in further upstream
Directions
From I-10, go north (left) on exit 38 (County Road 255). Cross U.S. 90 at Lee and continue to State Road 6 (about 4 miles). Turn right and proceed about 4 miles to Madison Blue Spring State Park on the right just before crossing the Withlacoochie River. Put in canoe and paddle 10-15 minutes downstream. Seeps, cascades, and a spring are on the right on a sweeping left-hand turn just past the unnamed spring described above and a rope swing.
Spring Description
On a wide, 90-degree bend of the river, and across from a large sandbar that is popular for bathers, there is a series of seeps, small cascades, and a small, attractive spring. The spring flows may be heard emptying into the river. The seeps and cascades are likely only visible when the river is low, for most of them were just a foot or two above the surface when the authors visited in summer 1999 when the river was 4 feet below the main watermarks on the surrounding limestone and trees. The spring is across from the sandbar and lies in a depression on a limestone shelf. Water cascades from the spring into the river, and flows from a small cavity that is was at about the level of the river on the day of the visit.
Use/Access
- Only the spring may be walked--the other flows are small and right on the limestone banks at the edge of the river.
- It is estimated that most if not all of the flows in this group would be submerged and therefore not visible when the Withlacoochie River is at normal or above-normal height.
Nearby Springs
- Madison Blue Spring
- Pot Spring
- Tanner Spring
- Morgan Spring