Along US 90 in Marianna, a highway pulloff provides a quiet place to duck into the woods and sit a spell along the shores of a crystalline waterway, Spring Creek.
The creek begins at Jackson Blue Spring, a swimming area at the north end of Merritts Mill Pond, and flows into a reservoir on the opposite side of US 90.
Resources
Overview
Location: Marianna
Length: 0.2 mile round trip
Trailhead: 30.752359, -85.192961
Type: Round-trip
Fees: None
The boardwalk is steep in a few spots.
Directions
The pulloff and parking area is along US 90 heading east from downtown Marianna, immediately after you cross the bridge over the creek.
Details
At the end of this short but pleasant boardwalk through the floodplain forest, you can see the water (and fish) rush down the spillway and into the forest, turning from churning froth to glassy stream.
Step off the boardwalk and do a little exploring along the cypress-lined shoreline to see Louisiana herons and snowy egrets in the shallows.
This is the tubing and kayak put-in for a four-mile trip that drops you into the Chipola River and down to Bear Paw Adventures take-out near Interstate 10.
They rent you tubes and provide a shuttle during their season. The boardwalk landing and creek shoreline is also popular with anglers, and the shallow waterway’s coves are ideal for fly-fishing.
Tubing Rentals
I am looking for a spring to tube down with my grandson who is 10. Is the spring crystal clear all the way down it?
What about hotels that are near the spring?
Spring Creek is a longer tubing run with dark water along stretches of it. For taking a youngster, we’d recommend the Ichetucknee River, which is crystal clear pretty much the whole way and takes 2-3 hours to do from the head spring at Ichetucknee Springs State Park. Or if you are both new to tubing, Kelly Park in Orlando has a very short stretch – maybe a half mile – where you put in, ride the clear water down to the swimming area, and walk back up the walkway and boardwalks to do it again. At both places, you’ll want to stay the night before to show up at the gate early to get going, as they are busy in the summer months.