Going to Gilchrist Springs!!

Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park

A few weeks ago, I went to Gilchrist Springs, spending what would be such a peaceful, relaxing day with my family!

With my grandparents living in Ocala, places such as Florida’s National Springs are very close to home. However, I will say that they aren’t easy to access all the time! Because springs such as Gilchrist, and Ginnie Springs are places that are on everyone’s bucket lists, you’ll find out, as I did, that there would be A LOT of people there. And the more people there are, the earlier you’ll have to go… Being a person that likes to lazily sleep in, and dream on, waking up at 4 am is definitely not the most pleasant experience.

But… I will have to say, Gilchrist Springs was beautiful, and well worth waking up at an ungodly time.

Now. Hear me out. I am. unreasonably scared of what lies in bodies of water with me. I am scared of what’s in the water, what lies in the shadows, in the grass, caves, heck – I’m even scared of the tiny shellfish pinching my toes in their pretty little shells. But I will say, putting my fear aside (with the help of some swimming shoes) the water at Gilchrist Springs was soooo clear, that it genuinely eased my mind. Albeit, the entrance of the spring is a little murky only because so many people are walking out and in from it.

But, I’d say the coolest part of the springs, was the incredibly deep cave that hid behind rocky caverns with that deep…. sooo deep pool of water–which I soon found out, was the spring! Now… Now, Don’t get me wrong, you’re reading this from the perspective of someone who was genuinely afraid of what lied beneath them in this massive –at least 13ft cave. So, you can expect that I absolutely did NOT go there without a floatie! Nevertheless, regardless of the fishes I saw, the cave was beautiful, and sparkled a brilliant royal blue, which was so cool to see!

Other than the sparkling, clear blue water at Gilchrist Springs, there was something, that I most absolutely need to share with you… THE BATHROOMS…

They were THAT BAD…

They were not pretty… The bathrooms, both the men’s and women’s sucked! Being the third car to enter the springs as soon as it opened, and having to use the bathrooms as soon as we walked in, I soon found out how stinky and grimy and just plain dirty the bathrooms were, which honestly sucked! Not only were these bathroom’s gross, but the second you close the door and crouch (you bet I wasn’t planning on sitting on that toilet seat!) the doors in your face! Overall, the bathrooms were really unpleasant, and was disappointing for what was a beautiful spring.

There are some things that I recommend you bring before you arrive at Gilchrist Springs. I recommend to bring one of those plastic cubbies for your phones (because they don’t have a shop there) and this is so that you can record your experience at the springs in the water! Get cool photos/videos of those caves, fishes and peoples legs treading the water. I also recommend you brings food to grill, portable chairs and a canopy to give yourself some shade!

My trip to Gilchrist Springs was a really pleasant experience, after multiple trips to the water, I slept for what seemed like hours in a hammock that we set up in the park. And towards the end of the day, for some odd reason I still felt like I was swimming in water, even though I laid practically half-asleep in bed.