A 185-foot spring near Tallahassee has prehistoric bones at the bottom and a marble lodge on top

It’s been drawing people for 12,000 years

About 15 miles south of Tallahassee, a 6,000-acre wildlife sanctuary wraps around one of the world’s largest freshwater springs.

The water holds at a steady 69 to 70 degrees year-round, and the main vent drops roughly 185 feet into an underground cave system that keeps going. Paleo-Indians camped here.

Mastodons died here. A 1930s financier built a marble lodge on the bank and opened it to the public.

You can swim in it, cruise through it, and sleep beside it, all in the same day. The bones are still down there.

Mastodon fossils and Clovis spear points line the spring floor

Clovis spear points pulled from this site date back at least 12,000 years, proof that Paleo-Indians hunted and camped along these banks.

The spring and river have given up fossil remains of mastodons, giant sloths, camels, bison and saber-toothed tigers. Financier Edward Ball first saw the springs in the 1920s while scouting land in the Florida Panhandle.

He bought the property in 1931, broke ground on a lodge in 1935 and opened the doors in 1937. Florida took over in 1986.

Tennessee marble and hand-painted ceilings fill the 1937 lodge

Walk into the Great Lobby and look up. The ceiling rises about 16 feet and covers every inch with hand-painted murals of Florida wildlife, Spanish galleons, tropical birds and designs that blend European folk art with Native American influences.

Tennessee marble and locally sourced heart cypress hold the place together.

The Art Deco staircase has three massive landings cut from a single marble block with face-matched grain. Wrought iron railings, forged on site, show life-sized limpkins and herons from the river.

Ranger-led boats cruise through Spanish moss and cypress swamps

Jungle Cruise boat tours leave from the dock behind the lodge about every hour and loop along the Wakulla River through dense cypress swamps heavy with Spanish moss.

Rangers run the tours and walk you through the environment, the wildlife and the history of the springs as you go. The boats run every day of the year unless severe weather shuts things down.

You need a reservation, and two of the vessels are ADA-friendly, so plan ahead.

A dozen alligators show up before the boat tour ends

Alligators are the headliners on the Jungle Cruise, and you don’t have to wait long. They sun on the riverbanks, glide through the water beside the boat and show up around nearly every bend.

Most tours turn up a dozen or more in a single run.

Back inside the lodge, you can meet Old Joe, the park’s famous 11-foot-2-inch alligator who served as the unofficial mascot for decades. He sits preserved in a glass case now, still drawing crowds.

Manatees drift into the spring when the river cools down

You can spot manatees in the spring and river any time of year, but your best odds fall between October and January. That’s when they move toward the warmer spring-fed waters as temperatures drop elsewhere.

Some days you’ll catch them right from the dock or the swimming area without even getting on a boat. The Jungle Cruise gives you another chance.

The park’s protected river corridor keeps this stretch of water safe for them, and they use it.

Herons, ospreys and chimney swifts put on a show at dusk

Birders rank this park among Florida’s best, and the list backs that up. Herons, white ibis, anhingas, ospreys, hooded mergansers and egrets all show regularly.

Different species cycle through with the seasons, so what you see in December won’t match what you see in June. Early morning and late afternoon give you the most variety.

In late spring and early fall, stick around at dusk.

Chimney swifts circle above the lodge and dive into the chimney to roost in a tight, swirling display.

Jump off a 22-foot platform into 69-degree spring water

The swimming area sits right at the spring head, and the water is clear enough to see deep below the surface.

A 22-foot diving and observation platform hangs over the deep spring, and jumping off it has been a rite of passage for generations. The spring opens by 8:30 a.m. every day of the year.

A grassy beach along the Wakulla River gives you room to stretch out under ancient cypress trees between swims. Thunderstorms close the area temporarily, but it reopens once the weather clears.

A 1.4-mile trail leads to an 80-foot-deep sinkhole lake

Over nine miles of hiking and biking trails cut through southern hardwood forest and maple-cypress habitats across the park.

The main Nature Trail is easy to moderate and crosses a wooden bridge over the Sally Ward Spring Run.

Off Highway 61, the Cherokee Sink Trail runs 1.4 miles to an 80-foot-deep sinkhole lake where certified divers can scuba dive. Three miles of equestrian trails are open if you bring your own horse.

Interpretive displays along the way explain how water moves through the limestone.

Order Edward Ball’s favorite ginger yip at the 70-foot marble counter

The lodge soda fountain runs what’s described as the world’s longest known marble counter, stretching over 70 feet.

You can order old-fashioned milkshakes, malts, ice cream sodas and the house specialty, a ginger yip, which was Edward Ball’s go-to treat.

The Edward Ball Dining Room serves three meals a day with Southern specialties and views of the spring.

Tucked inside the lodge, you’ll also find the former first post office of Wakulla County, still holding some of its original postal equipment.

Glass-bottom boats once showed mastodon bones 185 feet down

Glass-bottom boat tours started at Wakulla Springs in 1875.

On clear days, you could look straight down through the water and see mastodon bones resting on the sandy slopes far below. Water clarity has dropped in recent years, and the park now rarely runs those tours.

Mastodon remains pulled from the spring were reconstructed for the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee, though the museum is temporarily closed during building repairs.

Scientists have identified at least nine extinct mammal species from the last Ice Age in this spring alone.

The cave system runs 45 miles beneath 600-year-old cypress trees

Wakulla Springs sits on top of the Floridan Aquifer, one of the most productive aquifer systems on the planet.

The spring pumps out hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water every day, feeding the Wakulla River, one of the last unspoiled rivers in the state.

Below the surface, explorers have mapped roughly 45 miles of underwater cave passage. Above ground, virgin bald cypress trees estimated at 400 to 600 years old shade the banks.

Groups like the Wakulla Springs Alliance keep working to protect the water quality and flow.

Visit Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park in Florida

You’ll find the park at 465 Wakulla Park Drive in Wakulla Springs, about 15 miles south of Tallahassee. Gates open at 8 a.m. and close at sundown, 365 days a year.

The Lodge at Wakulla Springs has 27 guest rooms overlooking the spring and stays open around the clock. The dining room and soda fountain welcome both lodge guests and day visitors.

Book your Jungle Cruise reservation ahead of time, because tours run daily but fill up, especially on weekends. Check the official website for current pricing.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• You can swim in the Atlantic then walk into a 1672 fort before lunch in St. Augustine
• Every winter, manatees take over this Central Florida spring — and you can watch for free
• An hour from Miami, Key Largo sits on the only coral reef in the continental US