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4.5
1,407 votes

Blue Spring State Park Campground

2100 W. French Ave., Orange City, Florida 32763 USA

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Open Now
Thu 8a-6p
  • Independent
  • Credit Cards
    Accepted
  • Pet Friendly
  • Not Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
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“Florida's best manatee observation point”

Blue Spring State Park covers more than 2,600 acres, including the largest spring on the St. Johns River. Blue Spring is a designated Manatee Refuge and the winter home to a growing population of West Indian Manatees. The spring and spring run are closed during Manatee season, mid-November through March.  Swimming or diving with manatees is not permitted; this rule is strictly enforced.  For centuries, the spring area was home to Native Americans. In 1766 it was visited by Colonial American botanist John Bartram, but it was not until 1856 that it was settled by Louis Thursby and his family. The Thursby house, built in 1872, remains standing. The spring´s crystal clear, 73 degree water can be enjoyed by swimmers, snorkelers, and certified scuba divers with a partner. The river is popular for fishing, canoeing, and boating. River boat tours are available; for reservations, call St. Johns River Cruises at (386) 917-0724. The park has plenty of picnic areas and a hiking trail. For overnight stays, air-conditioned cabins,and a full-facility campground are available. This is a very popular park on weekends. To ensure entrance into the park, we recommend arriving early; otherwise, the parking area will be full and you may not be able to enter.

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Reviews of Blue Spring State Park Campground

33 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

4.6 Access
4.7 Location
4.8 Cleanliness
4.3 Site Quality
4.3 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 4G/5G

Confirmed by 11 users | Last reported on April 20, 2023

AT&T 4G

Confirmed by 7 users | Last reported on April 09, 2021

T-Mobile 4G/5G

Confirmed by 5 users | Last reported on September 28, 2023
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Reviewed by
Lilsilverfish

  • 3 Reviews
  • 3 Helpful
March 05, 2015
Rated 4.0

Blue Spring State Park is a beautiful area with plenty of interesting and entertaining things to do.
Not only does it offer a variety of nice hiking and biking trails and boardwalks (that enable visitors to access most areas even after heavy rain), but there are also camping grounds, picnic tables, boat tours and canoes to rent - to mention a few...
The park provides areas for parking (at a fair rate), which can, however be a little crowded at times so that a short waiting time in front of the gates might be required.
Aside the beautiful flora and fauna that can be observed here all year long, the springs are also a popular place for manatees that spend the winter months in the warm waters. With a count of over 300 manatees (as it was the case on the day of our visit) - they can be observed from almost every spot along the springs.
The boardwalks can get a little crowded, too. But there is still enough space for everyone to enjoy their visit!

2 people found this review helpful

Reviewed by
paul.staring

  • 1 Review
  • 1 Helpful
April 22, 2015
Rated

Very cool place! The water is clean, cool and refreshing on a hot day. Manatees were cool to see

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
St.Nick

  • 14 Reviews
  • 2 Helpful
December 26, 2014
Rated 4.0

The viewing of the Manatee is great! A nice wooden walkway follows the stream (spring run) and you can view the Manatee all along the walk. At the end the spring runs into the St. John's river, where you can canoe. It seems to be popular so arrive early. We camped for three nights. The campsite or nice but be forewarned: expect a train to roll past in the middle of the night blowing it's horn (that's why I gave it 4 stars). Not much else in the area.

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
meghanmurphygill

  • 1 Review
  • 0 Helpful
March 28, 2014
Rated

Beautiful setting teeming with wildlife.

1 person found this review helpful
Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

January 31, 2016
Rated

It was 50° this morning and we went down to the springs. It was an amazing site. West Indian Manatees were everywhere. The count for the day was 277 in the spring run. Our state park team has done a phenomenal job of protecting these gentle beasts from man's destruction. Our campsite was a typical state park site with water and electric, surrounded on 3 sides by brush. Native florida at its finest. Some train noise to lull you asleep at night and it is somewhat close to orange city. If you want absolute peace and tranquility, you might be annoyed, but this park is a truly magnificent way to experience nature up close. Rent or bring your kayak or canoe to paddle the St. Johns river, or take the 2 hour nature cruise with capt. Peter. It was a great way to take one back to the Florida of bygone days, before the civilization found her. As a life long florida resident, I was once again incredibly impressed with our parks system. This is one of the more popular ones, and on the boardwalks are filled with all kinds of families, young and old experiencing the beauty of our natural habitats.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $23.00

Days Stayed: 4

Site Number: 10

5 Access
4 Location
5 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

February 19, 2016
Rated

This park is beautiful and camping there allows you to get out early and see the Manatees before all the crowds get there! My particular spot was actually kind of hard to fit a 30ft airstream into... the spot was cozy.
Over all, I loved it. I personally would not spend 4 nights there again, but 1 or 2 would be perfect.
The spot deserves 4 stars, because everything was very clean and nice. The park is very well taken care of and we had a great time! The only complaint is that a train goes by every once in a while.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $32.00

Days Stayed: 4

Site Number: 45

4 Access
4 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

Reviewed by
leighwetzel

  • 309 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
March 05, 2017
Rated

Blue Spring State Park has really nicely spaced campsites with a lot of privacy and a wonderful walking trail/boardwalk that leads to the manatees. We were here for only 1 night, but were very happy during our stay.

Verizon - DOWNLOAD: 4.75Mb/s, UPLOAD: 2.32Mb/s
AT&T - DOWNLOAD: 2.31Mb/s, UPLOAD: 0.41Mb/s

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leighwetzel would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $24.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 33

4 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

March 11, 2018
Rated

We stayed here on Mar 1st and 2nd. Price reflects all taxes and reservation fees. The manatees had already left the springs due to the warm weather in Feb, the spring area was closed to swimming and diving until Mar 15th. This was another nice campground, small but with good spacing between sites. The restrooms were new and keep very clean. The had laundry machines but where very over priced compared to other state campgrounds they we have stayed at, @ $4.00 washers and $3.00 dryers. They have nice walking trails and boardwalks to hike on, the old home that was built back in 1860's has been well maintained and open on the ground floor, no furnishings except for the kitchen area.There is a river boat tour that takes you out on the river and you get to see plenty of alligators and birds. I gave it a 5 star on the noise even thought there is a train track nearby and the train does come by at night, but we love trains so it was no problem to us.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $30.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 38

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

April 27, 2018
Rated

This campground was a treasure. Each site was very private in heavy trees. Most sites were sloping and stoned. Each had a fire ring and table. Bathrooms new and very clean. Two or three trains a day go by. Nice boardwalk along spring but manatees had left by the time we got there.
Park includes limited campstore and gift shops.
Had 52 free stations with antenna. Very clean campground and park.

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Nightly Rate: $30.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 20

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

  • 42 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
June 14, 2018
Rated

Rained while we were there. Bike paths looked good but we didn’t use. Loop road narrow very challenging to back into spot. I would stay here again to see the Manatees. Cell service spotty.

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roadtripper5361191 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $20.00

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: -

3 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
5 Noise

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Blue Spring State Park Campground

2100 W. French Ave.
Orange City, Florida
32763 USA
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Hours

Open now until 6:00 pm
  • Sun - Sat: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

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    Pets Allowed
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    Restrooms
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    Credit Cards Accepted
Affiliation
State park or forest
Last Nightly Rate
23.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
42.0
Lowest Nightly Rate
20.0
Max Length
40 ft
Sites Count
51
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    Fifty Amp
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    Full Hookup
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    Open Seasonally
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    Age Restricted
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    Permit Required
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