Wekiwa Springs

The park reaches capacity on warm weekends and now runs on advance day-use reservations. The practical guide for residents and visitors alike — read it before a Saturday, not in the queue.

The park closes at sundown, which sets the itinerary: a late-afternoon swim at 72 degrees, then dinner in Apopka or Altamonte Springs — labelled with their home areas, as always on this hub.

The swimming hole is the famous acre of a 7,000-acre park. The rest — sandhill trails, Sand Lake, family campsites and canoe-in primitive spots — is where Wekiwa Springs residents actually spend their park.

The spring bowl in the morning, a short paddle on the run, lunch on the grass and a hammock trail by afternoon — a family day built entirely from the state park at the community’s edge.

From the spring run at Wekiwa, the Wekiva River runs some 16 miles north to the St. Johns — one of only two Florida rivers with a federal Wild and Scenic designation. A paddler’s river, born in a suburb.

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.

A second-magnitude spring pushing more than 40 million gallons a day into its run at a constant 72 degrees — cold in August, warm in January, and indifferent to both. The natural fact under the whole community.