Blue Spring Campground

Description:

• Blue Springs State Park has three separate overnight locations; a campground, a cabin community and a primitive waterfront site. As soon as you enter the park, take the first road on the right to enter the main campground where you will find 51 tent and RV sites. Twenty-seven of the sites have electric hookups. Each site has a picnic table, grill and fresh drinking water. No sites have a their own dump station, however, there is one within the park. There are only a few sites that are of sufficient size to accommodate today's larger camping rigs. The campground offers accessible bathhouse facilities.

  Reservations are taken on 90% of campsites, and 100% for cabins. The reservations can be made up to eleven (11) months in advance from the day you wish to arrive. A convenient feature of the park service is that they accept American Express credit cards.

  The campground is located in a pine forest within walking distance of the river and spring run. This is a wonderful feature if you enjoy early morning or late evening walks in hopes of spotting some of the park's unique wildlife including river otters and alligators. Manatees may be seen throughout the day during the winter months.

  Primitive camping is available to registered backpackers at the end of Pine Island Trail, which is a 4-mile hike-in site along the banks of St. Johns River.

  Visitors to Blue Springs State Park may also be interested in knowing that the park offers a tour boat that follows a 2.5-hour route that travels from the mouth of Blue Springs Run and through a canal that leads to Dead River. At Dead River, the tour boat picks up more tourists as it passes Hontoon Island State Park then circles back to Blue Spring Run. The trip includes a restaurant stop. Reservations can be made by calling the park office.

  Historians will find it interesting to learn that three-story Thursby House is located at the park. Before settling at Blue Springs, Louis Thursday abandoned New York to become a soldier in the Mexican War. After the war, he became one of the first successful citrus fruit growers and tradesman from Central Florida.