Bouleware Spring
Alachua County
Summary of Features
-
Scale -4th magnitude (estimated)
-
Scenery - fair
-
How Pristine? - water piped, impounded; area developed into park and pumping
facility
-
Swimming - no
-
Protection - unknown
-
Crowds - small
-
Access - excellent
-
Facilities - fine
-
Safety - fine
-
Scuba - no
-
Cost - free
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
Caption 1
|
Caption 2
|
Caption 3
|
Caption 4
|
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Quick Directions
From intersection of Highways 26 and 20, go one block east on Highway
20. Turn right (south) onto SE 15th Street (also called County
Road 2043) and proceed 2 miles to the spring park at the sign on the right.
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 is set in a low area and flows from the bottom of a bank
our of a pipe into a series of three concrete holding areas/pools. The
first pool is square and about 12 feet in diameter. The lower pools are
rectangular, with the middle pool being about 15 by 35 feet and the lower
pool 20 by 50 feet. There is an old municipal water pumphouse building
adjacent to the first two pools. After exiting the third pool, the spring
run flows south through a thicket toward Paynes Prairie.
Water in the pools is fairly clear and is about 4 feet deep. There is
some vegetation and algae in the pools, and there are minnows in the water.
Use/Access
-
The spring and adjacent pumphouse are part of a City of Gainesville Park
that also has restrooms, picnic areas, and the trailhead for the 15-mile
Gainesville/Hawthorne bike/foot/horse trail, a rails-to-trails paved path.
-
There is a little convenience store adjacent to the park that offers provisions
to hikers and other visitors.
Local Springiana
As noted on the sign in the photograph, the spring has historic significance
for Gainesville. It was an early water source for the city and the University
of Florida. The pumphouse building was restored in 1990 by the City of
Gainesville and the American Waterworks Association and is both a "Water
Landmark" and a site on the National Register of Historic Places.
Personal Impressions
The City of Gainesville has done an excellent job of restoring the
old pumphouse, creating a public park on the site, and establishing the
trail to Hawthorne all on the same site in an otherwise economically depressed
section of town. The spring is not much to see, and is frankly one of the
least interesting and attractive things in the little park.
Nearby Springs
-
Glen Spring
-
Poe Spring
-
Allen Spring
-
Hornsby Spring
-
Columbia Spring
-
Magnesia Spring
-
Orange Spring
-
Silver Springs
Other Nearby Natural Features
Paynes Prairie State Reserve
San Felasco Hammock State Preserve
Devil’s Millhopper State Geologic Site
Poe Springs County Park
O’Leno State Park
River Rise State Park
)
)
)
)
)
)