Springs, and the tranquil streams they create, are one of Florida's most fascinating and attractive geologic features. The cool, clear, clean water they provide, and the abundant fish they attract, often determined the location of human settlements throughout the state. Over thousands of years, many generations of Indians occupied large villages located around springs, and later pioneer settlers established farmsteads near them. Some spring creeks were dammed to power large water wheels that turned the stones that ground corn into meal and wheat into flour.
For centuries, the origin of the water that flowed from deep within the earth was surrounded with great mystery and superstition. The Indians regarded some springs as sacred and were places of worship and ceremony. Often the water was believed to contain magical substances that cured diseases, fostered long love, and defended against evil spirits. Juan Ponce DeLeon is said to have been looking for "The Fountain of Youth" as he searched for gold along Florida's east coast in 1513. He found neither but claimed Florida for the King of Spain anyway.
Many of the myths and superstitions about the springs were promoted by early developers to lure tourists and land buyers. Several of the larger springs were surrounded by hotels and spas catering to the ill and the infirmed lured by advertisements in northern newspapers claiming to cure everything from gout and rheumatism
to stupidity and ingrown toenails. "Come, drink, bathe - throw away your crutches and live to be hundred". They came, and though most took their crutches and affiliations back home, they also took memories of experiencing the scenic beauty and pristine wildness of a Florida landscape that only a few of us are left to remember.
Springs are created as rain falls on the sandy uplands and is slowly pulled down by gravity into the porous limestone bedrock. Falling rain absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, becomes slightly acidic and can slowly dissolve the limestone. Through the ages cracks formed and were enlarged into tunnels and caverns, providing an opening at a lower elevation where water flows to the surface creating a spring.
Ground water is insulated from the daily and seasonal temperature changes by the overlaying rock and sand, and maintains a constant temperature of 70 to 72 degrees at this latitude. During the winter months many kinds of fish, and the endangered West Manatee, migrate to the larger springs to escape the colder water of the rivers and the sea.
Since ground water contains little or no oxygen, very few fish are seen in the spring opening. However, after flowing a few hundred feet above ground the water absorbs oxygen from the air and fish, crayfish, snails and insect larvae begin to appear and increase in numbers further downstream.
The quality of spring water varies greatly depending on the chemical contents of the rock through which it seeps and flows during its underground journey back to the surface. Some taste pure and fresh while others may be highly mineralized and taste like a rusty nail. Some underground streams flow through deposits of marine salt and come to the surface tasting like the ocean. If it flows through beds of organic debris buried beneath the sediments of the ancient sea floor, it will also contain sulfur and smell like rotten eggs. There is no need to discuss what it tastes like although some people drink it, believing that the more foul the taste, the better it is for you.
The crystalline springs that flow from beneath the sandy ridges are but a few of the natural features typical of the "Real Florida" that are preserved for your enjoyment within the Park System. However, many of our springs are becoming the victims of their own popularity as more people that ever before come to enjoy the unique experiences they offer. Erosion caused by the trampling of shoreline vegetation and the uprooting of aquatic plants will greatly reduce the scenic qualities and biological richness that makes these places so special to us all. Those who stay on the marked trails and heed the regulations are helping to insure that your next visit will be as enjoyable as you last.