List of major springs in Florida

Geologists from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection claim that the U.S. state of Florida may have the largest convergence of freshwater springs on the planet, with over 700. Hydrological springs are naturally occurring places where water flows from the aquifer (underground) to the surface. There are springs located within 21 Florida State Parks.

In the 1800s, the crystal clear water attracted development; 14 Florida cities have "Spring" in their name. Spring names have been duplicated in different parts of the state, such as Gator and Salt; Blue Spring was so common that the county name was added to differentiate between the seven locations.

The first comprehensive study of Florida's springs was published in 1947. The next update was released 30 years later in the Florida Geological Survey Bulletin No. 31, Revised, "Springs of Florida". In the 1977 Rosenau survey, there were sixteen offshore (under water) springs identified. All but two were situated on the Gulf coast. Since that time, scores of additional springs have been located and are being studied. The most recent compendium of spring data is contained in the 2004 publication, Florida Geological Survey Bulletin 66, and identified 720 springs, of which 33 were first magnitude, 191 were second magnitude, and 151 were third magnitude. Springs are identified by type: river rise (RR) is where a river emerges after flowing underground for a distance; a single spring (SS) has one underground source, but may flow through multiple rock fissures; a group spring (GS) has multiple underground sources; a sink (SK) is an opening in the Earth's surface that occurs from karst processes and/or suffosion.

Volume values listed are the most recent found, mostly after 2000, but water outflows have diminished significantly since the 1990s with drought conditions and increased pumping from the Floridan aquifer. Water flow diminished and stopped completely at several locations, including White Springs and Worthington Springs, where tourists flocked to drink and soak in the mineral water beginning in the late 1800s. The public water plant at Boulware Springs provided water for the city of Gainesville, Florida and the University of Florida until 1913, when reduced outflow required a new water source.

Many of the springs listed herein are indicated as privately owned, which is a misnomer. "Private individuals cannot 'own' a spring that is along/accessible from a navigable waterway. They own the land around it above the normal high water mark." Since the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) defined the term "navigable waters", the meaning has been litigated. Following U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the Federal Register published EPA's final definition on November 26, 2008. Section (3) states: "intrastate lakes, rivers, and streams which are utilized by interstate travelers for recreational or other purposes (are navigable waters). Courts have ruled that "shallow streams that are traversable only by canoe have met the test".

Note: The table of contents only applies when the list is sorted by spring name. "Mag" refers to the daily magnitude of water flow. "Type" denotes RR-River Rise; SS-Single Spring; GS-Group Spring; SK-Sink. "Daily flow in millions" is the volume of daily water outflow in millions of gallons/litres. "Temp" is water temperature in degrees Fahrenheit/Celsius. "Own" shows ownership of surrounding property: S/tate; F/ederal; P/rivate; C/ounty Left mouse click on the up/down arrows to sort the list by that column.

+Key Spring is located within a Florida State Park Spring is located within the Ocala National Forest Limited access: requires permission or access from water § Volume is for Group, not individual spring Scuba diving is permitted

+Daily magnitude 1st > 64.6 million gallons (100 ft3/s) 2nd > 6.46 million gallons (10 ft3/s) 3rd > 646,000 gallons (1 ft3/s) 4th > 144,000 gallons (100 gal/min) Zero No flow

MagSpring nameOutflow body TypeCountyDaily flowin millionsTempOwn Photo1stAlapaha Rise Alapaha River RR Hamilton P 1stAlexander St. Johns RiverSS Lake F 2ndApopka Lake ApopkaSS Lake P 2nd Aucilla (Wacissa) Wacissa RiverGS Jefferson § P 2nd Baltzell Chipola River GS Jackson S/C 2ndBeecher St. Johns RiverSS Putnam S 1st Big Blue (Wacissa) Wacissa RiverGS Jefferson § P 1stBlue St. Johns RiverSS Volusia S 3rd Blue (Levy County) Waccasassa RiverSS Levy C1stBlue Grotto (Silver) Silver RiverGS Marion § P 2ndBlue Hole(Florida Caverns State Park) Chipola River SS Jackson S 1stBlue Hole (Ichetucknee) Ichetucknee RiverGS Columbia § S 4th Boulware Paynes PrairieSS Alachua C 2nd Branford Suwannee RiverSS Suwannee C 2ndBuckhorn Main Alafia RiverGS Hillsborough P 2nd Bugg Lake DenhamSS Lake P 1stCedar Head (Ichetucknee) Ichetucknee RiverGS Columbia § S 1st Chassahowitzka Chassahowitzka River GS Citrus S 2nd Citrus Blue Withlacoochee River SS Citrus P 2ndColumbia Santa Fe River SS Columbia P 2nd Copper Suwannee RiverGS Dixie P NACow Suwannee River SK Lafayette NAP 2ndCrystal Springs Hillsborough RiverSS Pasco P 1stCypress Holmes CreekChoctawhatchee River SS Washington P 2ndDe Leon Spring Garden CreekSt. Johns RiverSS Volusia S NA Devil's Den None SK Levy NAP 2nd Devil's Ear/Eye/Little Santa Fe River GS Gilchrist P 1st Emerald (Gainer #2) Econfina Creek GS Bay § P 2nd Ellaville Suwannee River SS Suwannee P 1st Falmouth Karst fensterSS Suwannee S 1stFanning Suwannee River SS Levy P 2ndFenney Shady BrookLake PanasoffkeeSS Sumter P 2ndFern Hammock Juniper CreekLake GeorgeGS Marion F 1st Gainer #3 Econfina Creek GS Bay § P/S 4thGator Hammock Creek SS Hernando P 2nd Gilchrist Blue Santa Fe RiverGS Gilchrist P 2nd Gemini Springs Lake MonroeGS Volusia C 2nd Ginnie Santa Fe RiverGS Gilchrist P 4th Glen Hogtown CreekSS Alachua P 3rd Green Cove St. Johns RiverSS Clay C 3rd Green Springs Lake MonroeSS Volusia C 2nd Guaranto Suwannee RiverSS Dixie C 2nd Hardee Withlacoochee River SS Hamilton S 2nd Hart Suwannee River GS Gilchrist C 2ndHernando Salt Mud River SS Hernando P 1stHolton Creek Rise Suwannee RiverRR Hamilton S 1stHomosassa Homosassa RiverGS Citrus S 2ndHornsby Santa Fe RiverSS Alachua P 2nd Hunter (Kings Bay) Crystal River GS Citrus §C/P 1stIchetucknee Ichetucknee RiverGS Columbia § S 1st Jackson Blue Merritt's MillpondChipola River GS Jackson S/C 2ndJuniper Juniper CreekLake GeorgeGS Marion F 1st Kings Bay Crystal River GS Citrus §S/P 1st Kini/Upper River Sink Karst fensterSK Wakulla P Zero Kissingen Peace RiverGS Polk P 1stLafayette Blue Suwannee River SS Lafayette S 4thLevy Blue Waccasassa River SS Levy C 1stLime Sink Run Suwannee River SS Suwannee S 2nd Lithia Major, Minor Alafia RiverGS Hillsborough C 3rdLittle Weeki Wachee River SS Hernando P 2nd Little River Suwannee RiverSS Suwannee S 1stMadison Blue Withlacoochee River SS Madison S/C 4thMagnolia Hammock Creek SS Hernando P 2ndManatee Suwannee River SS Levy S 1st McCormick (Gainer #1) Econfina Creek GS Bay § P 1st Morrison Choctawhatchee River SS Walton S/C 1stNatural Bridge Karst fenster St. Marks River SS Leon P 1st Nutall Rise Aucilla RiverRR Jefferson P 3rdOrange Orange CreekOklawaha RiverGS Marion P 2nd Otter Suwannee River SS Gilchrist P NA Paradise None SK Marion NAP 3rdPeacock Suwannee River GS Suwannee S 2nd Pitt Econfina CreekGS Walton C 2nd Poe Santa Fe RiverSS Alachua C 2nd Ponce de Leon Sandy CreekChoctawhatchee RiverGS Holmes S 1stRainbow Rainbow RiverWithlacoochee River GS Marion S/P 1stRoaring (Ichetucknee) Ichetucknee RiverGS Columbia § S 2nd Rock Rock Springs Run Wekiva RiverSS Orange C 2nd Rock Bluff Suwannee River GS Gilchrist P Zero Rossetter Withlacoochee River SS Hamilton S 3rd Royal Suwannee RiverSS Suwannee C 2nd Running East, West Suwannee River GS LafayetteSuwannee P 2ndSalt (Marion) Lake George SS Marion F 2ndSanlando Wekiva River SS Seminole P 2ndSanta Fe Santa Fe RiverSS Columbia P 2ndSanta Fe Rise Santa Fe River RR Alachua S 2ndShangri La Merritt's MillpondChipola River SS Jackson P 1stSilver Silver RiverOklawaha River GS Marion § S 1stSilver Glen St. Johns RiverGS Marion F 1stSiphon Creek Rise Santa Fe RiverRR Gilchrist S 1st Spring Creek Apalachee BaySS Wakulla S/P 1stSt. Marks Rise St. Marks River RR Leon P 2ndStarbuck Wekiva River SS Seminole P 1st Steinhatchee Rise Steinhatchee RiverRR TaylorDixie S 2nd Sun Suwannee River SS Gilchrist P 2nd Suwanacoochee Withlacoochee River SS Suwannee S 2nd Suwannee Suwannee RiverGS Suwannee S 2ndSuwannee Blue Suwannee RiverSS Suwannee P 1st Tarpon Hole (Kings Bay) Crystal RiverGS Citrus §C/P 2nd Telford Suwannee RiverSS Suwannee P 2nd Three Sisters (Kings Bay) Crystal RiverGS Citrus §P 1stTreehouse Santa Fe RiverSS Alachua P 1stTroy Suwannee River SS Lafayette S 2ndVolusia Blue St. Johns River SS Volusia S 2nd Vortex Blue/Sandy CreekChoctawhatchee RiverSS Holmes P 2nd Wacissa Group Wacissa RiverGS Jefferson §S/P 1stWakulla Wakulla River SS Wakulla S 3rdWaldo Fenholloway RiverSS Taylor P 3rd Wall Boggy BayouSS Pinellas C 3rd Warm Mineral Myakka RiverGS Sarasota P 1stWeeki Wachee Weeki Wachee RiverSS Hernando S 2nd Wekiva Wekiva River (Waccasassa River tributary)SS Levy P 2ndWekiwa Wekiva RiverSS OrangeSeminole S 3rd Welaka St. Johns River SS Putnam P 2nd White Suwannee River SS Hamilton S 2ndWilliford Econfina Creek GS WashingtonBay S 3rd Worthington Santa Fe River SS Union C

List of major springs in Florida

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