de leon spring state recreation area

The trails were a little marshy but beautiful Florida flora! 4.5 miles so take some water with you and wear old shoes!

It was clean. Lots of activities for all ages. People having picnic's, swimimg, snorkeling, scruba lesson were being given. Some really beautiful old live oaks. Interesting museum telling you the history of the park.

Small area for walking, nice warm water for a few laps. Little restaurant famous for "made yourself" pancakes. Very pleasant personnel operating that place.Pontoon eco tours available to observe natural wildlife habitat.

The Old Spanish Sugarmill Restaurant was a great attraction!! The pancakes were excellent. The griddle is built into every table and the 2 choices of pancake batter are brought to the table for you to cook. A great variety of add-ins for pancakes are available. The 5 grain pancake mix was excellent and healthy. The base price was $4.99 very reasonable. We also added meat for a small fee. They held our reservation while we went on the boat ride and our table was ready when we returned. Fun place. Rustic atmosphere like old log cabin. Kids would love it!! Adults like the food and prices.

The first thing you see in the park is parking lot shaded by numerous moss draped huge live oaks. The park has three main attractions, the mill house restaurant where you cook pancakes on your table, a first magnitude spring to swim in, and the spring run for kayaking/canoeing in. The nature trail is often wet, buggy and without views or destination. It is a loop thus it makes a great dog walk Be advised out there in may thru august deer flies and mosquitoes will eat you up. The park also has an interpretive garden tho small is a nice diversion.Take home a bag of pancake mix from the mill house. It is good and keeps well.

When we visited, there was a pioneer settlement reenactment festival, which added to the enjoyment of the park. We were camping with Girl Scouts at Blue Springs and spent part of an afternoon at Deleon Springs. Definitely check out Old Sugar Mill Restaurant for breakfast!

The springs are really clear and beautiful and the outer pool area is clean and easy to get in and out of. There are lots of nice nature walks that are marked and huge spreading oaks that make for great photo ops. There is a large playset for small children and my kids played football in the park. You can fish and boat and scuba all outside the well protected swim area. One of the best "Old Florida" type parks.

deLeon Springs State Park is just an awesome park to visit. The springs pump out over 100,000 gallons of water each day. The park is very well maintained and exceptionally clean and inviting. The Springs are split so that you can safely swim or SCUBA dive on 1 side, and then fish, rent a boat, or just meander around the park. Several of the Oak trees are huge! Many of the limbs span more than half of the parking area. Truly a restful and enjoyable State Park worth visiitng.

We loved the spacious uncrowded aspect of this place. It has easily walked pathways, a scenic lake, canoe rentals, and clean restrooms. It is the site of an old Spanish Sugar mill and historic remnants from Ponce De Leon's day still exist here. Aquaint little restaurant is on the site serving a unique "cook your own breakfast" as well as other refreshments and food items. The ubiquitous souvenir shop is also available.

Get to the park early to get a table, especially if you have a group or it's a holiday weekend. You get two choices of pancake batter, the multi-grain and a white mix. They are both delicious! And the sausage and bacon are excellent as well. These are prepared in the kitchen while you make your own pancake creations and eggs just how you like them on the table griddles. They do get hot so watch out for kids and heat later during the day. Then you can rent a paddle boat or kayak or take a eco-tour and see a variety of wildlife from manatees to hawks. These are for a fee, but the swimming in the natural spring is included in your park fee. A treasured family tradition!

The old sugar mill is inside Deleon Springs State Park is a favorite to take our visiting company for breakfast...Some are not so sure when they bring your your uncooked food and start up the grill in the middle of your table. It is FUN...They specialize in there own pancake batters. Make a day trip of it and have a swim in the springs! (admission to the park in necessary to enjoy the restaurant)

Came early on a Friday. There was hardly anyone here. Only $4 to get into the park. Had breakfast at The Old Spanish Sugar Mill Grill and Griddle House. All you can eat pancakes for $4.95 and you make them yourself at your table! I had the French Toast.. Ha! Everything was fresh and tasted so good. Even the coffee was delicious. The waitress was super friendly and efficient. After breakfast I went to the visitor center. Great little museum with history of the springs. Actually learned a lot and didn't mean to. Next I took a hike around the park. Amazing place. Beautiful, natural Florida landscape. I can't wait to come back and swim in the spring. You can dive into 30 feet of crystal clear water! Best state park I've ever been to.

Yes the park is wonderful for the whole family with swimming BBQ hiking trails boating and great wild life...But where else can you make your own Great pancakes!! Be sure to have breakfast or lunch at the Old Spanish Mill griddle house in the 100 year old historic mill. What fun. See the pictures yummy.

We've driven by the sign for De Leon Springs many times on our way to Blue Springs before finally deciding to turn down the road to it. We expect maybe a nice, small state park since we had never heard of the place before. Instead we found so much more.The swimming area looked nice and big. Unfortunately we weren't prepared to go swimming that day. The people who were swimming though, looked like they were having a lot of fun.The real highlight was the boat tour that takes you up river. We weren't planning on going on it since we had our dogs with us. We were just trying to get information for next time when we got told we could just take our dogs on the boat with us! It was very nice of them and we really appreciated it. While on the tour we saw alligators, manatees and a wide variety of birds. We also learned a lot about the area. We would definitely visit again.

What a great place, they have the spring to swim in, a pancake house with a very neat windmill on the outside. they offer paddle boats nature trails. the place is fabulous.