Florida’s original spa town is an outdoor mecca on the Suwannee River for hikers, cyclists, and paddlers. Before 1900, White Springs had fourteen hotels catering to tourists who came by rail and steamboat to “take the waters” at the springs.
Opened in 1950, Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park was envisioned as a memorial to composer Stephen Foster, who never visited the Suwannee River but nonetheless made it famous. Designated the first Florida Trail Gateway Community, White Springs is one of the rare places on the Florida Trail where the trail leads you right through town.
Destinations
Recent Articles
Au Naturale in White Springs
Expect a reroute of the Florida Trail in White Springs, as the Suwannee Valley Campground has been purchased and turned into a nudist resort.
Hiking inn-to-inn on the Florida Trail
As part of a question sent to me by Rick, a reader in New England, he asked “we would be interested to find an area where we hike from inn to inn over a few days” as part of a vacation day hiking in Florida. As I’m in the midst of working on a new …
I Did I-Did-A-Hike
On the 2009 I-Did-A-Hike, 40 participants enjoyed special access to a portion of the Florida Trail that is not formalized yet, but when it is, will lead hikers right past the famed Big Shoals.
Nearby: Lake City, Live Oak, Jacksonville