Location: High Springs
Top Things to do in High Springs
What to do and see in High Springs, Florida (FL): The Best Nature & Parks
High Springs is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,350 at the 2010 census.
Restaurants in High Springs
1. Anderson's Outdoor Adventures Santa Fe River Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 8 reviews
With on-site canoe,kayak,tube, and paddle board rentals Santa Fe River Park is a prime attraction in High Springs FL. A Gilchrist County park located on the scenic Santa Fe River in the heart of springs country is home to Anderson's Outdoor Adventures who offers full service canoes,kayaks,paddle boards, and tubes 365 days per year covering over 55 miles of river. This is a great place to take a river trip or guided tour!
Reviewed By Myab0505
The entire trip was awesome! I totally recommend!!! Jay was the best..he explained everything and answered all my stupid questions. We rented 4 kayaks and had a blast visiting all of the springs. AOA made everything go smoothly THANK YOU!!!
2. Blue Spring
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8 reviews
Spring known for its deep color of blue.
3. O'Leno State Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 217 reviews
Located along the banks of the scenic Santa Fe River, a tributary of the Suwannee River, the park features sinkholes, hardwood hammocks, river swamps, and sandhills. As the river courses through the park, it disappears underground and reemerges over three miles away in the River Rise State Preserve. One of Florida's first state parks, O'Leno was first developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The suspension bridge built by the CCC still spans the river. Visitors can picnic at one of the pavilions or fish in the river for their dinner. Canoes and bicycles are available for rent. While hiking the nature trails, visitors can look for wildlife and enjoy the beauty of native plants. The shady, full-facility campground is the perfect place for a relaxing overnight stay. Located on U.S. 441, six miles north of High Springs.
Reviewed By lizzard84 - Key West, United States
We love the state parks in general and this is definitely a must-see! It's one of the older parks so it has more buildings and infrastructure (built in the '30s but the CCC) than many of the newer parks. Many of the buildings were closed because of Covid, but the important facilities like bathrooms were still available. There's extensive hiking, a swimming area, boat launch, picnic spots and a playground so there was still plenty to do. We camped in the Dogwood Campground which was great. The sites are a little harder to back into if you have a larger camper/RV because the road is narrow but they're also very private. The bathhouse is in great shape and was very clean. When we booked, I didn't realize that there are two seperate campgrounds and that Dogwood is over a mile from the hiking area, river, and dumpsite. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but I think next time we'd stay at the Magnolia campground instead.
4. Blue Springs Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 209 reviews
Explore 250 acres of the "Real Florida" and stroll along our 1/4 mile boardwalk as it follows the springs run to the Santa Fe River. Gaze into the crystal blue depths from the dock overlooking the spring's boil. Whether it's swimming, picnicking, tubing, canoeing, camping, hiking or just plain relaxing...make Blue Springs your adventure destination!
Reviewed By Nicole_M_1977 - Orlando, United States
If you like a family camping experience, this is the place to be! At first we thought "wow, we're close to our neighbors", but everyone was respectful, and it ended up feeling like we were camping with friends by the time our trip was over. We camped at site #12. The spring is beautiful and there's a 1/4 mile spring run where you can kayak or tube in totally clear water until it hits the Sante Fe where the water turns brown (due to the cypress trees). The only drawback was that the bathroom/showers are shared with the day visitors, but since they left at 7:45 p.m., we just used the facilities the most in the evenings. The bathrooms are cleaned every morning between 7 - 8 a.m. Overall, we give our experience two thumbs up! And it's close to Ichetucknee Springs, which was a blast!
5. Poe Springs Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 74 reviews
Reviewed By donkC2251JX
Park is beautiful,but on there site said nothing about river to high so Spring was closed.We drove 50 miles for nothing.I no it is a county park,but Spring in summer is the draw.Saw other cars at gate disappointed.If you could put info on site that would be great.
6. Ginnie Springs
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 548 reviews
This diver's paradise offers shallow spring, river and cave diving.
Reviewed By Raftnjules
It was our first time paddling any Florida waterway and the scene here was far from what I expected even after reading reviews. 1. We loved our campsite. #36 It was super close to very clean bathhouse, a bit tricky to back our rig into, but thankfully 35 wasn’t rented the entire time of our stay so the site felt really big. It’s also right next to a trail that takes you to a boat ramp. 2. Upon arrival some young neighbors were partying down, so I could have done two things, gotten irritated or open up a Truly, my beverage choice, and soak it all in. 3. I am a people watcher and my golly there is people watching to do for sure. We didn’t rent tubes and do the tube run as we brought our paddle boards. We would never visit Ginnie during peak season, but a Sunday- Wednesday in mid October was spot on. There was plenty of parking so we parked at one of the springs down from the main ginnie springs entrance (twin spring) and paddled up stream, all the way to gilchrist state park. The water is there was amazing, then we drank our trulys and floated back visiting all the springs at Ginnie, it was wonderful. And then we didn’t have to walk back to camp. Loaded up our boards and took a quick 1 minute drive back to camp. Were people being loud and obnoxious? Yes a few. Were people blaring music? Yup. But thankfully it was just during the day. If you like to have a little fun and be in the party scene, do it. If you are looking for a very quiet adventure. This isn’t it! We loved Ginnie Springs and will be back.
