manatee springs state park

There is nothing to dislike about this bit of heaven..You can camp, hike, swim, we ate at a camp house and it was great. The best part is the Beautiful Boardwalk. If you want peace and a date with nature this is your place!

Another wonderful Florida State Park. Very beautiful, forested park with a very large spring that attracts Manatees during the colder months of the year. They are easy to see (the water is very clear), and the park has several great trails that are easy to navigate on foot, as well as boat rentals and aquatic access for swimmers.

Although the Manatee's were not in we had a great time exploring this area. It is well worth a visit.

Nice park to go walk around. So beautiful here. We came across a few deer. It has a nice play area for children or adult children. I personally wouldn't swim here . I'm not a fan of snakes or gators. It does have a sign that says something about gators and swim at your own risk. There is a nice bar b que place to eat here.

Lovely state park and awesome when the manatees are in the spring. Very nice facilities, beautiful spring, pretty boardwalk out to the river. Super nice place to stop, get out of the car for a while and go for a nice walk in pretty natural settings. Found the 100's of buzzards a little…. different, but everybody needs a place to hang out.

We RV camped here for several days and really enjoyed it. The campsites were well kept and quiet. The natural scenery was awesome. We biked the trails at the park and the bike path running from Chiefland. Very doable for cyclists of all skills. The concession cafe has great BBQ. We rented kayaks and spent some hours on the Suwannee River, just breath taking. Really worth a visit to this great spot. The springs are crystal clear and always 72 degrees for swimming.

We stopped by the park to check out the campground and stayed for the day. The boardwalk was brought us along the spring's outflow to the River. We saw several species of fish, a water snake, birds, and when we went up stream to the spring, we waded out to a manatee. Cool! There were snorklers swimming, but we had left our gear back at the RV. We sampled the concessionaire's pulled pork, chicken, and ribs - all were good. !

I spent 11 days camping in the Hickory loop campground. A nice campground with just average facilities. The sites are wide with a sand base tables and grills are provided. Another loop is being renovated over winter 2015. A number of trails and boardwalks will Lead you around and over several of the large springs in rhe park. The springs flow into the Suwanee river from here. The cocessiin stand rents kayaks and canoes to explore the springs and into the river. They also have drop off services up river so u float back down to the park and to your car. Good BBQ food and hot and cold drinks at the concession area. Nice folks run it and are very accomodating to what and when u want to do. Contact Anderson Outdoor Adventures the park concession operator for more. Details

My husband and I are continuing our FL state parks camping experiences. In Old Hickory we had a large campsite near the bathroom which was kept clean by the hosts. Because the trail to the springs was close by, we hiked many times to the springs to try to see the manatee, hiked the boardwalk through the cypress forest canopy to the covered pier where we saw a water moccasin, many vultures, gar fish, and mullets jumping in/out of the water. There's also a boardwalk along the springs where one could watch snorkelers and scuba divers. Although in our past camping experiences at this park, we have seen snorkelers, scuba divers, and manatee, but this time we did not. We hiked the Sink Hole trail through the hammock forest where we saw at least 4 sink holes and an armadillo rooting for food. Another day we hiked the loop trail that combined the Scenic Trail, Clay Trail, and Shacklefoot Trail where we saw cabbage palm, saw palmetto, bald cypress, sparkle dry, Spanish moss, wax myrtle, longleaf pine, lichens. A Seminole chickee hutreplica, sink holes, spring flowers, and prescribed fire areas. If you take this trail make sure to have a numbered trail map guide and ample water. To finish our long hike we were surprised to see a beautiful hawk sitting on a tree branch in the picnic area.

We enjoyed the boardwalk and saw lots of fish at the surface of the clear spring water and river area. We unfortunately did not see any manatees even though the man at the gate said there were 3 spotted that morning. The naturalist was informative and told uninteresting facts about the caves that surround the springs area. There were cave divers who said it was the best dive they had ever done!

Florida State parks have, in general, exceptional campgrounds, but this one sits near the top of the list. The sites are shady and private, large enough to move around, close enough to the restrooms, which are always clean and well provided.A short walk brings you to the spring area where a boardwalk and trail allow you close up encounters with manatee,deer, Florida fresh water fish, turtles, and a gang of very polite turkey vultures. Boat rides are available, canoe, kayaks and pontoon trips explore the river.There is a restaurant serving terrific barbeque for very reasonable prices, a good break from camp cooking. If you are looking for relaxation, nature, and friendly folks, this is a good place.

I really enjoyed hiking and going to the springs. We saw three manatees and really interesting plant life. The staff was very friendly and there is a restaurant that serves BBQ and snacks. While the park itself was nice I did not enjoy the camping aspect. The sites are way too close together and don't have much in the way of privacy or separation between them. They also have a 2 tent per site rule but allow 8 campers. I would definitely go to the park again but I would not camp there again.

We stopped by here on our way to Cedar Key. A short walk down to the spring, spotted several manatees, tons of birds, and a water snake curled up in a tree about 2 feet away. Awesome experience.

A wonderful rather small state park. We were there in the evening, the boardwalk was very beautiful in evening light with crystal clear spring water and trees draped with Spanish moss. We saw some birds and turtles, and after sunset manatees came close to the boardwalk. We heard that an rather warm days they only come after sunset. We also saw an armadillo and a lot of deer.Also the road towards the Park was already very scenic.

This is a nice, off the beaten path, Florida State Park. The camp loop roads are unpaved, sandy and narrow. But some fairly large big rigs made it in. Not for challenged rig drivers. Sites are well separated and decent sized. No pads. There is a lot of "wildlife" wandering around. Deer do parade through your site and are not afraid of even barking dogs. First hand experience on that. The spring run and the head spring are just gorgeous. We snorkeled in the spring and walked the trails as well as rode bikes on some of the longer trails. The trails are not for street bikes. There are lots of sandy spots that skinny tires would get stuck in. They are in the process of rebuilding one of the bath houses. No cell coverage, but wifi at the concession stand. BBQ at the concession is awesome Amd really priced well.