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

Maintenance Spring

Sumter County

Summary of Features

  • Scale--4th magnitude
  • Scenery--fair-good
  • How Pristine?--adjacent to golf course and RV park, artificially enlarged
  • Swimming--no
  • Protection--unknown
  • Crowds--golfers and residents walking by
  • Safety--poor; alligators in pond
  • Access--on private property


Quick Directions

Address and phone: 178 US-301, Sumterville, 33585, 352-568-2244

In complex of Shady Brook Golf Course and RV park just east of the intersection of U.S 301 and CR 470 in Sumter County.  The spring is between two holes of the golf course and adjacent to RVs and mobile homes.  After turning off the highway, the road immediately turns left and winds back around the golf course and the RV and mobile homes.  Look for a circular pond, with woods behind it, a golf cart path along side, a utility pole next to it, and about 150 feet from a low, grassy, manmade rise/hill.  It is about 1/5 mile to the west of Belton's Millpond.

Google Maps link

Spring Description

This prosaically named spring is in a man-enlarged circular pond that is 150 feet in diameter.  Water flows from a two-foot-wide limestone opening in the south-central portion of the pool and creates a mild boil on the surface.  Some limestone and a sandy bottom are visible in this section of the pool, which appear to be 2-5 feet deep.  There was some vegetation and algae in the water on the date of visit in April 2003.  Water appears to flow through a pipe at the NW end of the pool, into the run from Belton's Millpond, and thence into Shady Creek and Lake Panasoffkee.  Land is cleared and developed for golf and residences on three sides of the spring and is flat.  A mother alligator and several baby alligators were living in the pool on date of visit.

Use/Access

Nearby Springs

Other Nearby Natural Features