Ichetucknee Springs, FL.

[Lynn Coleman]

Hi all,

At St. Joe's we started talking about another gathering in the fall. We were talking about Sept or Oct gathering and Ichetucknee Springs came up as a possible location.

The state park at this location does not have camping.
http://www.ichetucknee-springs.com/
However, there are a couple camping areas in the area. I'm supplying some links for everyone to check out and see what sounds best to them.

The purpose of this post is to get some discussion going so we can figure out date and location.
http://www.freecampgrounds.com/detail.aspx?id=2287

http://www.ichetuckneecanoeandcabins.net/directions/

Paul and I have been wanting to camp in this area for a year since we heard about tubing down this river.

Lynn

[Mary K]

Since I am already signed up for LCG, I might be pushing my luck asking for more time off. I'll follow the thread and see what y'all decide on and wing it if I can. Thats a 5 hour trip for me and no telling what Gas will be at that time.

Mk

[Michele]

I would love to go if my trailer is finished by then. I have been tubing down this river and it's a blast! The park is very well kept.

[Lynn Coleman]

Hey Mary, I hope you can make it but I do understand about time off and the price of gas.

Michele thanks for the endorsement of the tubing down stream. That will be one of the activities Paul and I will be participating in.

Any weekend sound better than another?

Lynn

[Michele]

I went in Sept. and the water was ice cold but it was still very hot outside so it was ok. I wouldn't recommend waiting until Oct. It seems like I remember hearing that the tubing part shuts down around the middle or the end of Sept. but I couldn't find anything on the website about it.

[Steve_Cox]

Lynn,

We drove right by the Ichetucknee Camp Ground on our way home from St Joe Peninsula. Looks like a nice place. All I can say is "lets go camping"

[tinytrailer]

I was up that way just a few weeks ago. When I go up there, I stay at O'Leno State Park. The tubing opens around Memorial Day and does shut down around the beginning of September. The town of High Springs (very close by) has a Pioneer Days weekend each year, the 4th weekend of April, That is what I go up for each year. Arts, crafts, food and entertainment. It is a very nice area.

[Lynn Coleman]

The tubing opens around Memorial Day and does shut down around the beginning of September.

Hmm, so should we be looking into early September for this outing?

Lynn

[Lynn Coleman]

Lynn,

We drove right by the Ichetucknee Camp Ground on our way home from St Joe Peninsula. Looks like a nice place. All I can say is "lets go camping"

Great, I'm glad someone has at least looked at the site. What's a good weekend for you and Kim?

Lynn

[Steve_Cox]

Great, I'm glad someone has at least looked at the site. What's a good weekend for you and Kim?

Lynn

Yeah, gave it the 60 MPH inspection. Looked nice from the highway. As for when? I dunno, doesn't make much difference to me, Kim is in Boston til Tuesday so I can't ask her right now. The State Park stops the tubing down the river after Labor Day weekend. Maybe we need to just take a daytrip on a Thusday in August and go tubing.

Becca and Fran had mentioned something about camping at Ceday Key, but I don't remember exactly when they were talking about. It's a nice place to go too.

[Lynn Coleman]

Becca and Fran had mentioned something about camping at Ceday Key, but I don't remember exactly when they were talking about. It's a nice place to go too.

I'm up for a Cedar Key trip too. I'd love to have Becca chime in on this discussion.

Lynn

[CAJUN LADY]

I'm here...

Funny you mentioned O'Leno State Park and Ichetucknee Springs...my daughter-in-law and I were just talking last Friday about a tubing trip there. O'Leno is about 12 miles to the East and just North of High Springs, FL. The springs don't have a campground. It's a 3 hour tubing trip...there is a shorter one but 3 hours on the springs is not bad. At 72 degrees, your butt's will be numb after 3 hours.

I am trying to get in touch with Fran. It's almost 8:00 a.m. in Denver so I am trying not to ruffle her by calling too early. So, I'll give her till 8:10 then I'm calling.

That would be a lot of fun.

[john]

Of the half dozen or so of springs that I visited My favorite was Ichetucknee. It was small and uncrowded and the few I met there were locals. My visit was in March and the the tubing was closed. The parking lot was empty except for four or five cars but there was A LOT of room for more people.


Just a quick Pic of the proposed spring.

[Lynn Coleman]

Hey John,

Thanks for the pic, the spring looks wonderful.

I'm going to look into a day trip to the springs during the third full week in June. I'll take the camera and check out the camping areas. Three of our grandchildren will be visiting that week and I'm thinking it just might be a fun activity for them on a hot summer's day.

Is labor day weekend a possible time to go camping there? It's the last available weekend for tubing. But I wonder if we would have to make reservations asap because it is a holiday weekend.

Hmm, let me hear your opinions, thanks.

Lynn

[john]

I was just passing trough the area on a much needed 3 week vacation with the family. I found during the trip that most of the inland campgrounds had available spots during the week but for weekend spots we had to call reserve America a couple days early. Coastal camping was of course always a reserve affair. Especially in the keys.

I'd reserve a spot ahead of time for any weekend site. It doesn't cost anything.

Also, my wife is certainly a lot happier when we have a place to park our home.


Nights were spent in nearby Manatee Springs...



I had a moment in, again nearby, Fanning Springs...