flsprings.com | Florida Springs

After being shut down for renovation the entire Summer season, Salt Springs was finally opened about two weeks ago. I had some back problems that prevented me from attending the spring the first weekend it was open, but I made it up the second with a couple friends in tow.

First impressions: it looks manicured now. They've removed the beach and all wood from around the spring and replaced it with freshly-poured concrete walls and metal barriers. The sandy top next to the beach has been covered in a flowerbed (I don't remember any flowers around the spring before...) and the jumping/entryway that used to be so much fun to climb in and out of is gone, replaced with pool-like concrete steps.

The spring itself is unchanged, but since it was just reopened and has been fairly cold out as of late, the spring was filled to the brim with grass and weeds. The water was chalky and foul-tasting, and the presence of a lot of sediment in the water made it cloudy. I have to admit it felt very wild compared to how it is in the summer when I'm guessing it's dredged; I was afraid at some points to even swim out due to the density of the grass.

All in all, it was an enjoyable trip with friends, but it would have been nice if 80% or so of the grass had been gone.

The trip to Juniper was cold, barren, and awesome! I think I went a bit too early for the full experience; a ton of green mess was still floating around in the spring, clouding and mis-focusing some of my shots, but overall it was an enjoyable outing. Here's the pictures from the excursion: