Wakulla Springs State Park

Wakulla, Florida
The full name of the park is actually Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park.  It is located in the Northwest Region of Florida, south of Tallahassee.

It is one of the largest and deepest springs in Florida and used to be crystal clear.  They have been struggling for years with water clarity.  Sometimes the water is murky and sometimes it is clear. It is not like most Florida springs with crystal clear blue water, but today it was fairly clear and we could see plenty of manatee that come to the “warm” water during the winter months.  The water is consistently around 70 degrees which is considerably warmer than the Gulf of Mexico.  Manatee’s are mammals and depend on finding warmer waters during the cold winter months.





There is a dive tower you can go on.  In the summer months people jump and dive off of it. There are no manatee floating there during the warmer months.

It’s a great place to get a good view of the area.



Notice the white mark on the baby?  It’s a scar from being hit by a boat propeller. Most all the Manatee you see have similar scars. 
Here is a Manatee nose coming up for a breath of air.

There is no camping here but they have a large lodge priced at $95-105 nightly. They have a restaurant, gift shop, snack bar,  lobby with TV and roaring large fireplace!  It’s quite nice.
 
It is a great place for a day visit. It cost $6.00 per car and $8.00 per adult for a boat tour (recommended) and $5.00 for children. There is a nice little swimming beach.
We did find out that they use Work Campers and have a little work camper village where you can stay for free with your RV in exchange for working at the park.

Here is a little campground near Wakulla and St. Marks.  It’s sometimes used by hunters (not our favorite) but is in a good location.  It’s not the prettiest campground we’ve ever seen but it adequate. We intend to stay there sometime to be closer to the coast and to St Marks.

phone: 850-925-4530.
8046 Coastal Highway, Crawfordville, FL 32327.