Skip to main content

Safety Updates

Florida State Parks will follow local orders requiring facial coverings or masks to provide for staff and visitor safety. These requirements vary from area to area. Our main priority is the safety of our guests and staff. We will continue to review operations on a daily basis and make additional operational changes as may be deemed necessary for protection of public health. Please review individual park pages for specific information for each location.

View details about online payments, park and campground closures, park programs/events and facial coverings.

Limited Visitation at this Park

Effective Jan. 4, 2021: Troy Spring State Park is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (see hours of operation and fee information below). Due to current brownout conditions, swimming and diving are closed until further notice. Restroom availability may be limited. Visitors are expected to maintain distances of at least six feet apart.

Florida State Parks
Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Main Menu

  • Plan your visit
    • Accessibility
    • FAQs
    • Fees
    • Rules & Regulations
    • Camping & Lodging
    • Outdoor Florida
  • Find a Park
  • Learn
    • Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Experiences & Amenities
    • Educational Opportunities
    • Programs
    • Research & Collecting
  • Events
  • Get Involved
    • Corporate Partners
    • Doing Business with Parks
    • Work for Us
  • Search
  • Camping & Lodging
  • Shop

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Find a Park
  3. Troy Spring State Park

History

Closed to Swimming and Diving

Troy Spring State Park is closed to swimming and diving activities due to a spring brownout caused by rising river levels. The park remains open for day use, and all other amenities are available to visitors. This notice will be removed when the spring is clear.

Back to Troy Spring State Park

Park Menu

  • Hours & Fees
  • Experiences & Amenities
  • History

Troy Spring was purchased by the state of Florida in 1995. Prior to that time, Troy Spring was accessible only by boat or by navigating dirt roads and cow pasture gates. Many people still remember when they could drive their boats all the way into Troy Spring to enjoy fishing, swimming, diving and the company of others.

Today, boaters can still enter the park from the river boat dock; however, a paved entrance road has become the more popular access route.

The spring is the historic site of what remains of the steamship Madison. In the mid-1850s Captain James Tucker had the ship built with a very shallow draft especially intended for the frequently changing water levels of the Suwannee River. For many years, the ship served as a floating mail service and trading post.

In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, it was used by the Confederate forces as a privateer and jerry-rigged gunboat.

In 1863, it was scuttled in the spring, upon the order of its owner, to prevent it from getting into the wrong hands. Today, some of the metal spikes and the remnant keel rib timbers that were part of its hull can be seen below the spring surface.

Florida State Parks

Main Menu

  • Plan your visit
    • Accessibility
    • FAQs
    • Fees
    • Rules & Regulations
    • Camping & Lodging
    • Outdoor Florida
  • Find a Park
  • Learn
    • Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Experiences & Amenities
    • Educational Opportunities
    • Programs
    • Research & Collecting
  • Events
  • Get Involved
    • Corporate Partners
    • Doing Business with Parks
    • Work for Us

Have Questions?

Contact the Statewide Information Line:
(850) 245-2157

Or send an email to:
FSP.Feedback@FloridaDEP.gov

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • You Tube
© Copyright 2021 © Copyright 2018 Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
  • Customer Survey
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Website Login