7 Sisters Springs — Attraction in Florida

Florida is a place of a thousand springs, and since covid19 has put a ruin on my travel vacation plans abroad, I'm exploring locally and safely for the sake of my sanity as well as discovering all the little gems in my home state.

7 Sisters Springs is part of the Chasahowiska river. Its an easy, straight up drive on Hwy 19 from Tampa Bay area. Parking and rentals are just passed the campgrounds, but parking is limited so get up there early so you don't have to fight for space. The river is gorgous with plenty of birds, turtles, gators, and otters to watch. A variety of both fresh and salt water fish can be seen as the brine level is just enough that both can tolerate the habitat.

We brought up a canoe but also rented a paddle board ($65 for the day) and a couple of kayaks (kayaks I think were $35). It was my daughter's 26th birthday so I serenaded a birthday song as loud and as off key as possible giving a description of her in place of her name. The results were spectacular as we passed several kayakers on our way out into the waterway who cheered happy birthday upon spotting her. (hard to miss the pink hair and baby-bump which was included in my expanded lyrics of the traditional birthday song) (IT WAS AWESOME!)

We took off down river first, then followed one of the fingerlings to one of the other ground water springs. Its a good little paddle trip with lots to see.

We came across a mother and her 2 young kids, each in their own kayak with a total loss of confidence of where they were. They were on the right path but its easy to think you might be lost even when you're not, so we invited them to tag along all the same, and made it to the small spring shortly after. There's a rope swing there but its not for jumping. It's too shallow for that not to mention the sandstone that pipes up around the spring would hurt if you tried. LOL... But its a lot of fun all the same.

We finally trekked back up river passed the marina and up to the actual 7 Sisters (7 pot hole sized alrings frothing with cold water haha). It was a little more crowded there with more of the party goers rather than the nature lovers but everyone kept to their hive groups maintaining covid safe space with ease. Lots of friendly chatter between passerby to share a gator or otter spotting; which was pretty cool. All in all it was a nice destination for a day on the water. Park amenities include: gift/conveinant shop, (at the time) safe mandatory mask regulation were followed, kayak rentals, camping, boat ramp, boat docks, bathrooms, and...

OMG GOOGLE! You need to take this off of here! I'd put ZERO stars if it would let me! The picture you have here isn't even 7 Sisters, it's a different Spring in a totally different area...

7 Sisters is NOT a park! It is NOT a vacation spot. You CANNOT drive to it. You CANNOT camp there. There's no concession stand, no store, no water spigots, no picnic tables, no public bathroom. There's no parking available. There's no handicap access. It's not "run" by any business or County Entity. It's NOT a 'maintained' recreational area.....

The Chassahowitzka River is NOT a tubing river. It is NOT a rafting river. It is a river with a VERY small, VERY SHALLOW channel for motor boats to navigate - you stand the risk of getting flipped over by the wakes that motor boats leave behind them. If you paddle down river pay attention to the tides, because you will have a hard time coming back UPRIVER when the tide is going out.

You can only get to 7 Sisters by boat. People BOAT to it, hang out, drink, play loud music, party hard, and usually leave their garbage lying all around on the weekends, to where THE LOCALS have clean it up....

7 Sisters Springs is a nice spring, and the Chassahowitzka River IS a beautiful river, but it's is not a place to have a birthday or ANY kind of party. If your Children are water/boating savvy then it would be a nice way for your family to spend a Saturday paddling and checking it out, but it is not serviced go-to...

Seven Sisters is often overlooked because it is a little more remote than others but is a wonderful example of "old Florida". It is slightly less exploited for the same reason. Manatees come into this area so be aware when boating. We saw a mother and calf near the boat dock on our visit in July. Bring your own boat and launch or rent from Chassahowitzka River Campground. It is $5.00 parking for car and $7.00 w/trailer. This is maybe the only opportunity in Florida to swim through the connected limestone holes (called karst). Be prepared for floating parties that include loud music but don't let this keep you away from this unique experience. *Easy enough for any moderately active age. *Wear water shoes as you can not get out on land (it is private property). *Be prepared for cold water. *Snacks and cold drinks are available at the boatramp office and nice picnic tables are available on the river for your enjoyment. *Weekday visits are...