Springs of Lafayette Blue Springs

One of Florida’s 33 first-magnitude springs, Lafayette Blue Springs State Park features an expansive cave system crossed by a natural limestone bridge. Visitors come from miles around to swim, dive, and relax on the banks of this hidden wonderland.

Two main spring runs, Lafayette Blue and Allen Millpond, discharge to the Suwannee River. With a daily flow ranging from 14 million gallons to an impressive 168 million gallons, the 72 degree water from Lafayette Blue Spring travels several hundred feet to join the Suwannee. The spring forms the heart of this park, and the river the body.

A natural limestone land bridge separates the water, a stunning example of the karst limestone features that crop up throughout the area. This karst contributes to an extensive underwater cave network called the Green Sink cave system. Divers and explorers have surveyed over 12,000 feet of cave passageways extending west and southwest from the main spring. Large underground rooms, sometimes as much as 100 feet wide, open up beneath the surface. Sinkholes provide windows into this cave system where water flows to recharge the aquifer.

The Allen Millpond spring run features a second-magnitude spring that was once the site of a working mill. Timbers can still be seen in the water where it meets the river. Both springs provide homes for unique inhabitants: Amphipods, isopods, cave crayfish and catfish all flourish in the cool water of the caves, while turtles, sturgeon and other fish swim closer to the surface and in the river.

To visit Lafayette Blue Springs State Park is to visit the unknown. Deep water entices curious visitors to explore a vast world, hidden from view but full of life.