Located
16 miles southwest of the town of Live
Oak, this fascinating park contains a
series of springs, with sinkholes and
underground caves and caverns. While
uncertified human visitors are not permitted
to swim into the caverns because they are
home to several protected species including
cave crayfish, the Florida cave amphipod, and
Hobb cave amphipod, the spring pools are
popular with swimmers and snorkelers who
enjoy the warm water and underwater
life.
The
caves, the largest and most complex in the
state, are available for entry by certified
cave divers who use Orange Grove Sink to
enter the cavern system. This is one of the
longest underwater caves in the United
States, with 28,800 feet of passages already
surveyed by cave divers.
Most
visitors swim and snorkel in the two major
springs, Peacock and Bonnet. These springs
are tributaries of the Suwanee River, flowing
out of the pools via Peacock Slough. The park
is also a fine place to picnic, with upland
areas containing mature forests in four
different plant communities: xerotic hammock,
upland hardwood, bottom land, and swamp. In
the hammock, you'll walk through sand live
oaks, laurel oak, pignut hickory, and
southern magnolia. The upland forest contains
American holly, dogwood, Florida maple,
laurel oak and pignut hickory. The bottomland
forest is dominated by oak, water hickory,
and red maple, with sweetgum, loblolly pine,
and cedar elm (the latter a tree with
endangered status in Florida). Bald cypress
is the predominant swamp tree, with pop ash,
swamp privet, and button ash under the
cypress canopy.
For
information on Peacock Springs SRA, contact
the rangers at Ichetucknee Springs State Park
at (904) 497-2511.
