Blue Springs reopens as Florida state park

Florida opened its 175th state park Monday in High Springs.

Blue Springs Park, a 407-acre property that had been privately owned since 1958, was purchased by the state for $5.2 million in June, wrote Sarah Shellabarger, a Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson, in an email. The purchase was finalized in October, but the park closed for a month after Hurricane Irma.

The park, located at 7450 NE 60th St., offers six natural springs and areas for swimming, paddling and hiking. The entry rate is $6 for every vehicle holding two to eight people, $4 for a single-passenger vehicle and $2 per visitor entering by foot or bike.

Tom Kay, the executive director of the nonprofit Alachua Conservation Trust, said he thinks the property is better off under state ownership.

“It’s going to be positive for the whole community now that it’ll be available for the whole public to use,” Kay said.

Although the park doesn’t offer diving yet, Richie Denmark, a 33-year-old Gainesville resident, hopes park staff will follow the lead of neighboring Ichetucknee Springs State Park in Fort White and Manatee Springs State Park in Chiefland, Florida. State parks have regulations on visitors bringing plastic and alcohol, and this park will be less littered than alternative diving spots, he said.

Denmark said he looks forward to visiting the cleaner state park.

“It’s something that takes a lot of stress out of my life, being involved in nature, conserving nature, just being outside,” he said.