Plantlife

• View wild rice, pennywort, foxtail, and the entire underwater forest while snorkeling in a pristine freshwater spring ecosystem. Relax on your tube or canoe and watch the maples, dogwoods, and majestic arching live oaks in the hardwood hammock give way to the enchanting cypress swamp. Walk our trails and gaze at open vistas of the sandhill plant community where the wire grass, bracken fern, chinquepin, and wildflowers weave a carpet under the soaring longleaf pines

• The Ichetucknee River is the MOST pristine spring-fed river in the state of Florida. Two hundred and thirty three million gallons of fresh water flow daily from the springs within the 2,241-acre park. The year around water temp is 72dg

• The vibrant upland pine ecosystem that surrounds the hardwood hammock and cypress swamp is increasingly rare and not to be missed on a visit to the park

• As you travel down the river, an abundance of wildlife can be seen around every bend. Glide silently past turtles sunning on logs at the river’s edge. Listen for the great blue heron’s primordial cries or the echoing of the barred owl’s call. Watch wood ducks startle the unsuspecting from behind its cover of grasses. A canoeist may observe river otters stretching their heads above the surface or sliding playfully into the river. White- tailed deer, raccoons, and even the camouflaged wild turkey make the riverbanks their home

• Look down into the clear waters and be amazed by the abundance of aquatic wildlife. Largemouth and Suwannee bass, catfish, red-bellies, bluegill, mullet, and gar are but a few of the many species of fish that are present in the Ichetucknee. Peer yet closer into the crystal waters and see snails, crayfish, small turtles, grass shrimp and more

• Stroll our trails and look for five-lined or broadhead skinks. Keep an eye to the sky for a glimpse of a kestrel, a red-tailed hawk, or maybe a swallow-tailed kite. The gopher tortoise, indigo snake, or fox squirrel may also be out among the pines

• Florida's clear spring waters provide a natural aquarium for many of the state's most common as well as most unique fish species. Some, like the American Mullet, migrate to the springs from the ocean. Others, like the White and Brown Bullhead Catfish, live in the dark recesses of the springs' underwater caves emerging only at night to feed