Wekiwa Springs State Park: 7,000 Acres at the End of the Street
The park the state bought in 1969 and opened in 1970: a spring swimming bowl, the Wekiva River's headwaters, Rock Springs Run and miles of trail — adjacent to the community that shares its name.
1 minute read
Wekiwa Springs State Park is the rare Orlando attraction that predates the theme-park era and outdraws most of it on a summer Saturday. The state bought the land in 1969 to protect it from development and opened the park in 1970; it now covers some 7,000 acres at 1800 Wekiwa Circle in Apopka, directly adjacent to the Wekiwa Springs community in Seminole County.
What the park holds
The centre is the spring itself — a wide, grass-banked swimming bowl where the water stays at a constant 72 degrees. Beyond it, the park unrolls: the spring run flowing out to become the Wekiva River, Rock Springs Run joining from the north, a trail network running through sandhill and hardwood hammock, Sand Lake for fishing, and camping in its several registers, from family sites to primitive and canoe-in spots. It also serves as a headquarters for one of the state’s AmeriCorps Florida State Parks chapters — the place literally trains the people who run Florida’s parks.
How the community uses it
For Wekiwa Springs residents the park is not a day trip; it is the neighbourhood’s back fence and its default answer to a free morning. For everyone else it is the day trip the Apopka hub and this one share. The practical piece in this hub — on reservations and capacity — is required reading before a weekend visit; the park’s popularity is the one thing about it that can ruin a plan.
Photo: The spring swimming area at Wekiwa Springs State Park on a summer day. Photo: Bart Everson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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