Wakulla Springs and Lodge

Wakulla Springs State Park is a wonder in several ways. First, there’s the spring itself, the largest and deepest of the hundreds of springs in Florida. In fact, it is believed to be the largest and deepest freshwater spring in the world.

Then there’s the river created by the spring. Taking a boat tour down the Wakulla River is like traveling back into Old Florida—really Old Florida, primeval Florida.

Finally, there’s the historic 1937 lodge that overlooks the spring. This relaxing retreat has the feel of being in one of the great national park lodges out west. It’s enchanting.

The swimming area and lodge from the center of the spring.

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park is just south of Tallahassee in Florida’s Panhandle, but a world away. The park’s full name honors the business tycoon who, in the 1930s, bought a large tract of land surrounding the spring, built the lodge, brought in tour boats, and opened his new resort to the public.

Cypress knees nudge the spring beyond the beach and diving platform.

To his credit, Ball refrained from overdeveloping the area. He strived to protect the spring, river, and forest and to preserve their natural beauty. Florida purchased the property after Ball’s death, and in 1986 it became a state park.

The pandemic scuttled our plans to revisit the park two years ago. But this past spring, Sue and I and our New York friends Tad and Lea finally returned. Sue and I reserved a spring-view room at the lodge for three nights, but it felt so peaceful here that we ended up staying a fourth. It’s hard to leave such a serene place.

Wakulla makes a good base for exploring the surrounding region. During our stay there, we visited Tallahassee, St. Marks (via the Tallahassee–St. Marks rail trail), St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, St. George Island, and Apalachicola.

The Lodge

The Lodge at Wakulla Springs is an elegant blend of Spanish, Moorish, and art deco styles. The bright stucco and red tile building feels perfectly suited to where it sits. The Great Lobby features ceiling beams of local cypress wood, soaring arched windows, decorative wrought iron work, and plush leather furniture. The soda fountain’s 70-foot-long marble bar is said to be the longest in the world. Who can argue?

The lodge sits a short walk from the spring across a broad lawn.

The lobby, dining room, gift shop/soda fountain, and terrace occupy most of the first floor. The 27 guest rooms occupy the second floor, many with a view of the spring. The rooms in the solidly built lodge are roomy and quiet but spare. Don’t expect refrigerators, microwaves, or televisions.

Connecting the two floors are a marble staircase with a wildlife-themed wrought iron railing and the oldest elevator you will probably ever ride. According to the lodge, it is the only surviving art deco elevator still in use.

The main entrance to the Lodge at Wakulla Springs.

A massive fireplace anchors the lobby. Lavish paintings of Florida scenes and European motifs cover the ceiling beams.

You can’t help sinking deep into the lobby’s oversized sofa and armchairs.

Operating the elevator for the first time (you’re on your own) is an adventure.

A heron embellishes the wrought iron staircase railing.

The Edward Ball Dining Room serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.

The body of “Old Joe” is preserved in the lobby. The 11-foot alligator was a popular sight at the spring for decades. Although he never harmed anyone, an unknown person killed him in 1966.

The terrace entrance to the lobby is through a magnificent two-door Moorish archway surrounded by handmade Spanish tile.

The Spring

Northern Florida is cratered with springs, which range greatly in size and flow. The waters of some are more pristine than Wakulla’s (more on that later), but none are larger or deeper.

The cave system that feeds Wakulla Spring extends more than 32 miles through porous limestone and forms a veritable underwater Mammoth Cave. The spring typically discharges some 250 million gallons of 70°F water a day, fast enough to fill in minutes an Olympic-size swimming pool.

A poster signed by some of the movie’s cast and crew.

The bones of mastodons, giant sloths, saber tooth tigers, and other ice age mammals have been found in the spring and river, a chronicle of Wakulla’s prehistoric past. Archeological artifacts document a human presence here just as ancient, as far back as 14,500 years.

Because of the area’s unspoiled appearance, scenes for several movies and TV shows have been filmed at Wakulla. They famously include a couple of 1940s Tarzan movies, starring Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller, and the 1954 sci-fi classic Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The Boat Tour

A tour of the river and spring is well worth its modest cost. Reservations are required, and tours often fill up, so plan ahead. The nearly hour-long trip takes you downriver from the spring through a forest that hasn’t changed much in centuries. We took the first tour of day, at 9:40 a.m., and were glad we did.

We spotted lots of alligators and countless birds familiar and exotic. But the big surprise was manatees, which I didn’t expect to see in late March. We glimpsed at least half a dozen, including a mother with two calves, lulling about in the shallows or tagging along with our boat. Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” this was not.

The boat tours run about every hour.

Heading down the Wakulla River and back into time.

One of many alligators we spotted along the shore and in the water.

A manatee swims past our boat.

This yellow-crowned night heron seemed unperturbed by us passing by a few yards away.

An anhinga dries its wings in the morning sun.

A double-crested cormorant takes a break from diving for fish.

A Tarnished Gem

When Sue and I visited Wakulla in 1998, the spring looked crystalline. From our tour boat we could see deep down into its mouth. I remember our guide pointing out mastodon bones at the bottom.

An old photo in the lobby shows a glass-bottom boat tour.

Not so today. Hydrilla, a fast-growing, invasive water plant, is choking the river. Nitrate pollution from lawn and agricultural chemicals and wastewater seeping into the aquifer from which the spring springs, have degraded the water quality. Naturally occurring tannins often stain the water the color of tea after a heavy rain. But now the spring and river are continually dark. The park no longer runs glass-bottom boat tours; you can no longer see down into the spring.

Efforts to reverse the spring’s environmental decline, and battles over nearby development that could affect the park, are ongoing.

But it’s still a gem. Visit the lodge and relax in an almost comically oversized armchair. Refresh yourself with a ginger yip (ice cream blended with ginger soda), a soda fountain specialty. Walk the trail from the lodge into the woods through upland hammock and cypress swamp. Take a dip or a dive into the sun-warmed waters of Wakulla Spring. Have a picnic out on the lodge’s spacious grounds. Grab your binoculars and camera and take a boat tour.

Wakulla Springs State Park is Florida at its best.

For More Information

Upon the Face of the Waters: A Brief History of Wakulla Springs, by Tracy J. Revels, is available in the park gift shop and online. It makes for interesting reading while relaxing at the lodge and sipping a ginger yip.

Florida State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide, by Michal Strutin, is an excellent guide to one of the best state park systems in the country. I bring it along whenever we visit Florida.

David Romanowski, 2022