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Madison Blue Spring State Park

Photo: Ebyabe / CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

💧 Springs

Madison Blue Spring State Park

Lee, FL · Big Bend

About

Madison Blue rises in a round limestone bowl on the bank of the Withlacoochee River, about 82 feet across and holding a steady 72 degrees whether you show up in July or January. The water reads deep cobalt over the vent and shades to pale turquoise across the shelf, so a mask and snorkel turn up sunfish, catfish, and the dark mouth of a cave that technical divers have mapped for more than five miles underground. Float the short spring run to where the clear water meets the tea-colored river and you can watch the exact line where the two refuse to mix.

Highlights

First-magnitude spring, a constant 72 degrees year-roundSwim and snorkel a deep limestone basin on the Withlacoochee RiverInternationally known cave dive with 26,000+ feet of mapped passageShort spring run where clear water meets the tannin-dark river

Getting there

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Curated guides that feature Madison Blue Spring State Park.

Florida Springs24 places

Florida Springs

Florida sits on top of one of the largest gatherings of freshwater springs on Earth, and they run a constant 68 to 74 degrees no matter the season. Some are first-magnitude giants pushing hundreds of millions of gallons a day, others are quiet blue sinkholes you can have to yourself at dawn. These are the ones worth the drive: the glass-bottom boat tours, the lazy-river tube runs, the cavern dives, and the winter springs where the manatees come in from the cold.