Description

The park covers 611 acres (2.4 km²) of Volusia County, built around a natural sulfur spring, flowing at a rate of about 20 million gallons a day, that remains 72 degrees Fahrenheit year-round and reaches a depth of 30 feet at the spring boil.

DeLeon Springs was first occupied as early as 6000 BC (a dugout canoe dating back to at least 6000 BC was found on the site) by local Native American tribes. In the 1500s, Spanish forces, possibly including Juan Ponce de León, passed through. The Spanish would return in 1783 after regaining the land from England (who had held it since 1763), granting land near the springs to settlers to establish a plantation called “Spring Garden” where corn, cotton, and sugar cane were grown. Sometime around this time the Seminole began to settle in the area. The area came under American ownership some time after Florida became a territory in 1821; Colonel Orlando Rees built a mill to grind the corn and sugar. Most of the facilities were destroyed by Union troops during the American Civil War; however, the waterwheel and building remain on the site to this day, now housing a pancake restaurant called “The Old Spanish Sugar Mill”, owned and operated by local residents.

More info here: http://www.floridastateparks.org/deleonsprings/default.cfm

Nearest Address

601 Ponce de Leon Boulevard

Directions from Nearest Address

From De Leon Springs town, go west on Reynolds Rd toward FL-15 N/US-17 N Take the 1st right onto FL-15 N/US-17 N

Vital Information

Hours Spring is Open:

8:00 a.m. until sundown, 365 days a year.

GPS:

29°08′24″N 81°22′08″W / 29.14°N 81.36889°W / 29.14; -81.36889

Map Link: De Leon Springs State Park Map

Submitted by: Janet Patterson