Hiking near High Springs
and the Santa Fe River

River Rise Preserve State Park

This is where the Santa Fe River comes back. After running underground for about three miles, it surfaces here as a wide circular pool and carries on toward the Suwannee. The preserve is quiet woods and big trees, and its trails connect directly into O'Leno next door — together the two parks hold more than 35 miles of multi-use trail.

Open 8am to sunset, every day of the year. Hikers, fat-tire cyclists and horses all share the trails, and there's a primitive equestrian camp with a 20-stall barn. Bring water and a map; the park staff say the same.

O'Leno State Park

The best single hike in the area starts here, at a suspension bridge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The River Trail runs boardwalks along the cypress-lined Santa Fe, past an overlook of the River Sink — the place where the whole river simply vanishes into the limestone.

• River Trail — short boardwalk loop along the river, the sink overlook, and the swinging footbridge
• Sink to Rise Trail — 5.7 miles one way, 11.4 round trip, from the day-use area all the way to the River Rise
• Along the way — Jug Lake, Ogden Lake and Sweetwater Lake, plus a reservable backcountry campsite
• Old Bellamy Road — the historic road crosses the natural land bridge where the river runs beneath your feet

The southern half of the Sink to Rise crosses several equestrian trails and gets harder to follow — pick up the paper map at the ranger station, since the numbered posts match it.

Ichetucknee Springs State Park

Most people come to Ichetucknee to tube. Fewer realise there are three good walking trails at the north entrance, and on a hot afternoon they are the better half of the park.

• Blue Hole Trail — about half a mile through forest and cypress floodplain to Blue Hole Spring, the largest spring in the park. Closes an hour before sunset
• Trestle Point Trail — about 0.75 miles, shaded and self-guided along the clear Ichetucknee River, with signs on the early-1900s phosphate mining here
• Pine Ridge Trail — a 2-mile self-guided loop through sandhill habitat and longleaf pine

Trestle Point and Pine Ridge are dog-friendly. Pets aren't allowed on the trails to the launches or swimming areas — worth knowing if you've brought yours along.

Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park

The closest blue spring to the house, and an easy one. The walk along the spring run from the boil down to the Santa Fe takes only a few minutes, but the water is so clear that most people stop every twenty feet. Good for small children and anyone who wants the springs without a hike attached.

Poe Springs Park

A quiet county park on the Santa Fe with a boardwalk, shaded picnic grounds and a gentle entry into the river. It's the softest landing of all the springs nearby, and a good first stop if you're easing into the week.

San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park

The serious hiking in this part of Florida. San Felasco has genuine terrain — rolling hills, steep switchbacks and log bridges — through old hardwood hammock, pinelands and wetland with cypress knees. It feels nothing like the flat Florida people expect.

• Three hiking-only trails at the South Trailhead — 0.9 miles, 4.8 miles and 5.6 miles, colour-marked
• North Trailhead off US-441 — hikers may use any trail there
• Shared trails — the 4-mile Cellon Creek and the 8-mile Tung Nut Loop, which looks out over the north rim of Sanchez Prairie

Dogs are welcome on the South Trailhead hiking trails on a six-foot hand-held leash. Bikes and horses are not.

Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park

Not a long walk, but an unforgettable one. The Millhopper is a bowl-shaped sinkhole 120 feet deep and 500 feet across, with a boardwalk running down into it. Small streams trickle down the limestone walls and disappear into crevices, and the shade keeps the bottom green through the driest part of summer — a miniature rainforest sunk into the sandhills.

Fossil shark teeth, marine shells and the bones of extinct land animals have all been found in those walls. Half an hour here is worth the drive, and it pairs naturally with San Felasco, which is minutes away.

The river trip

Load the kayaks, drive up to Rum Island Springs County Park and drop in there. It’s a Columbia County park on the Santa Fe with a boat ramp, an easy launch and a cold swim if you want one before you set off.

From there the river does the rest. You drift past seven named springs on the way home, most of them within the first couple of miles, each one a different colour where it meets the tea-dark water of the Santa Fe.

1. Gilchrist Blue Spring Directly across the river from the Rum Island launch, about a tenth of a mile down. A quarter-mile spring run of water so clear the fish look like they’re hanging in air. State park — entry fee applies if you get out and walk around.
2. Naked Spring & Little Blue A short side paddle from the Gilchrist Blue run, and worth the detour. Same state park.
3. Devil’s Eye, Devil’s Ear & Little Devil Just under a mile below Gilchrist Blue. The Ear pushes a visible plume of blue into the brown river — you can see the line where the two waters meet. World-famous among cave divers. Part of Ginnie Springs Outdoors; fees apply to land or swim.
4. July Spring Directly across the river from the Devil springs. Private property — look, don’t land.
5. Ginnie Spring A short way past July on the left bank, up a short side paddle. The most famous spring on the river, and the clearest. Ginnie Springs Outdoors; fees apply to land or swim.
6. Sawdust Spring The last one before home. Private property — pass by.
7. Our dock Land at the house, pull the boats up the bank, and walk up to the deck.

All in, it’s about two hours of easy drifting — longer if you stop, and most people do. No paddling against anything, no shuttle to arrange, no car to retrieve at the end. You simply land at the house, pull the boats up the bank, and walk up to the deck. It is, without question, the best thing to do here on a warm day.

• Leave a car at Rum Island if you’d rather collect it later, or run two cars and leave one at each end
• Kayaks, tubes and life jackets are here for your use — take them with you
• Bring cash or cards if you plan to stop at Gilchrist Blue or Ginnie — both charge to come ashore
• Take more water than you think, and something dry in a bag for the phone
• Go in the morning — the light on the water is better and the river is quieter

River levels change through the year. After heavy rain the current runs faster and the water turns tannic; in a dry spell it runs low and slow. Ask us what it’s doing the week you arrive and we’ll tell you honestly.

The twelve acres themselves

Some mornings you won't want to get in the car, and you don't have to. The limerock drive runs a long way through pine and hardwood before it reaches the road, the pasture opens out under the ancient oaks, and the bank gives you nearly 600 feet of the Santa Fe to follow. Best done early, coffee in hand, before anyone else is up — that's usually when the deer are out.

Wild turkeys, foxes, otters and owls all turn up across the property. Go quietly and you'll see more than you expect.