Summary of Features Scale -2nd magnitude Scenery -outstanding How Pristine? -very pristine; little evidence of past use as mill, campground, and homestead Swimming -no Protection -excellent Wildlife -very good Crowds -none Access -good Facilities -none Safety -good Scuba -no Cost -free

Springhead in winter	Springhead in summer	Spring run	Springhead in winter
Run mouth at Suwannee	Spring run

Full Directions
From Mayo, travel northwest on U.S. 27/SR 20 for 3-4 miles. Turn right onto Highway 251B and proceed about three miles to tract entrance. Turning right at the sign (also at the house of the tract caretaker) will lead down a dirt road to the lower end of the spring run. The spring is further north on 251B. Look for roped-off entrance on the right just after the paved road ends. Walk into the entrance, turn left, walk about 75 yards. Then at crossroad at small building, turn right onto trail. Then take the first left (after a sinkhole on the left) and walk down to the spring.

For maps, latitude/longitude data, driving directions, satellite imagery, and topographic representations as well as weather conditions at this spring, go to Greg Johnson's informative "Florida Springs Database" web site at the following address:  http://www.ThisWaytothe.Net/springs/floridasprings.htm#Florida

Spring Description
The spring lies in a low swampy karst area that is pockmarked with sinkholes and surface limestone. The area around the spring is wooded floodplain, with cypress and hardwood trees in abundance and dense vegetation in the summer. The first and main vent is at the head of the elongated pool and is a canoe-shaped opening in the limestone with a gentle boil. It is 4-6 feet deep, about 3 feet wide, and 9 feet long.

The spring pool or first part of the run—which ends in a 90-degree turn where there is a small dam that is the remnant of a 19^th century corn mill—is S-shaped and approximately 175 feet long. It is shallow and the water is clear. The run continues after the dam for about 1,000 yards to the Suwannee and is from 1-3 feet deep. The authors found a second vent near the head vent, but not three vents as described in Rosenau et al. (1977, p. 198).

Use/Access

• The site is managed by the Suwannee River Water Management District and offers hiking, biking, horseback riding, camping, and fishing as well as 1.6 miles of river frontage.
• The protected area also includes upland pine forest, hardwood forest, bottomland forest, and swamp that serve as habitat for bobcat, beaver, turkey, fox, quail, and wild hogs ("Allen Mill Pond," SRWMD flyer, n.d.).
• It might be possible to canoe up the run to the spring when the river is above normal, but the run is shallow and obstructed at other times.
• As the winter and summer photographs of the spring suggest, the area surrounding Allen Mill Pond is heavily overgrown in summer, making access and viewing difficult and less safe.

• The spring has a rich history. It was the site of a corn mill built in 1855, a settlement, a ferry concession, a trading post, a sand mining operation, and a campground. Evidence of these activities is almost completely gone, and the area has a very wild character.

• In an historical footnote, Louis Moseley, a 19^th century landowner, sheltered Confederate Secretary of War John Breckenridge at the site of the spring in 1865 after Lee’s surrender to Grant. Breckenridge was fleeing Federal troops and trying to divert their attention from the simultaneous flight of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Breckenridge would ultimately make good his escape all the way to Cuba and exile, while Davis was captured in south Georgia and imprisoned for two years (Johnson & Faircloth, 1996, p. 50, and Foote, p. 1010).

The site is lovely, wild, picturesque, and remote, making it a favorite of the authors in terms of its natural beauty. It is best to visit in winter, for the lush terrain is wildly overgrown in summer.

Nearby Springs

• Flynn Spring
• Charles Spring
• Thomas Spring
• Lafayette Blue Spring

Suwannee River Water Management District
9225 CR49
Live Oak, FL 32060
800-226-1066