This was the end. While there was one more week before school started, this was the last chance for some type of a real vacation trip. After this long and hot summer, there seemed to be few options better than a nice, cool, slow float down a spring-fed stream. Ichetucknee Springs State Park was the place.
Some 300 miles away, located near Lake City, Florida, this place is really off the beaten path. As you cruise down the interstate, flying past endless Magic Kingdom advertising, you wouldn't ever guess that this hidden attraction even exists. Almost 45 minutes off the interstate, you start to see the inner tube rental places. Make sure you stop and rent one, since the park doesn't have any available on-site. You can get tubes or rafts in all sizes. They will even tie them to the roof of your car, like the Christmas tree sales guys do. Perhaps the best deal is that you don't have to return to the rental place, just leave your tubes at the designated pick-up point in the park and they will get it.
As you drive into the Park, you quickly realize that this won't be any faux-rafting experience. Nothing fancy, nothing high-tech around this place. Even the paved road ends somewhere along the way. You pay your admission, really inexpensive in this Tourist Rip-off country -- $5.00 per person and $5.00 per vehicle, and drive down to the stream. You can either start up at the North Entrance and float down to the end for a 4 hour trip, or simply take the 2 hour float from the mid-way point via the South entrance. Since we had other places to travel on our trip, we opted for the short trip.
Once you get into the parking lot, you walk down to the tram stop -- water shoes are a nice item to take since the gravel can be a little sharp and 
rough on tender feet -- and wait for the tram to take you up to the mid-point start. You have to lug your raft or tube down to the tram stop, but then you toss it on the trailer and ride up to the put-in spot. We had a raft, since Billy is still just learning to swim, and it worked out better than two tubes. Once you debark from the tram, you follow the path down to the stream and try and step in the raft without flipping over. You really want to acclimate yourself to the water temperature since its 73 degrees year-round, and if you hit the water as you start, you'll let out a loud scream that shatters the calm wilderness surrounding the stream. Luckily we didn't tip over and eased out into the middle of the stream into the slow-moving current.
The area around the stream is lush and clear of any development, since the State of Florida owns all the property. Plenty of calming earth-tones abound and the canopies of the overhanging trees provide shade from the sun. We saw plenty of birds and fish. The water is 
crystal-clear running from a few feet deep to 10 of more feet in spots. From the midpoint downstream, the stream bottom was grassy, not sandy. From memory of my last visit when we started at the head of the spring in the North entrance, the bottom is sandy at that point. The trees were criss-crossing the stream in places and you could climb them and jump into the water at some points. Since we visited on a Friday, there weren't too many people floating down with us, but the teenagers that were visiting were loud and silly as you might expect. The weekend crowds can get the silt on the bottom of the stream stirred up and this clouds the water downstream. In fact the Park limits the admission via the North entrance to the first 750 each day to cut down on the environmental impact.
You don't have to paddle or swim to move downstream. The current flows just enough to keep you moving, although you will have to correct your direction to keep from being swept under some low branches and against a few swampy-looking areas of the bank. There are no food or containers allowed on the water, so plan ahead for hydration, although the water is cool enough that you won't feel overheated at any point. 
We didn't see anything that resembled an alligator and that's a good thing. There are so many people in the water during the season that most gators wouldn't be happy around the Park area.
You can swim along with your tube or raft, and there were a number of people that just used a Noodle to float along. I hadn't thought of using one of those, but next trip I may choose that option. Years ago on my very first trip to the Park, I was decked out in my scuba gear, but its not really deep enough to do that. In fact, unless you are a beginner, even bringing a mask and snorkle won't add much to the trip. The best way to make this trip is simply to kick back and enjoy the float. When you reach the end, there's no chance you'll miss it. There is a barricade and signs warning you to exit the water. I couldn't help but wonder what lay beyond this point. The map seems to indicate that the stream flows into the Suwanee river somewhere further downstream. Perhaps those gators lurk down in those areas.
We pulled ashore and lugged the raft up to the return area and then took the tram back to the station where we started. There are rest rooms at the end of the stream and at the mid-point area, as well as a refreshment stand for those that make a day of their visit. You can cookout in the park, and there are areas with picnic tables and grills. The tubing season from the north entrance will starts on May 27th and the tram service operates from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. While this seems like a short season, as cold as the water stays, you really don't want to float on it during the fall, winter or spring seasons.
The Park is open year-round, but unless you're looking for an out-of-the-way spot for a picnic, there's not much reason to visit in the off season.
http://www.floridastateparks.org/ichetuckneesprings/default.cfm
