Echo

Echo Spring
Citrus County


Summary of Features Scale -2^nd magnitude Scenery - poor How Pristine? - surrounded by houses, docks in spring and run Protection - unknown Access - no land access

Directions
From U.S. 19 in Homosassa, turn west onto Highway 490 (Halls River Road). After about ½ mile, turn left onto Fish Bowl Road. Go about 1 mile, passing entrance to Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park, continuing over a spring run on a small bridge. The spring is on the left, about 80 yards past the bridge, in the back yard of several houses. The spring can also be viewed from Spring Cove Road. 100 yards after the bridge, turn left onto Spring Cove Road. The spring is on the left, behind two houses, at 9491 Spring Cove Road.

Spring Description
The spring is surrounded by private property and there is no land access. From the road, it appeared to be a semicircular pool about 40 feet in diameter. The depth and clarity of the water could not be determined. The spring forms a run of the same width as the pool that flows a short distance (perhaps 300 feet) and then joins the run of the other Homosassa Headwaters Spring. This combined run then flows under Fish Bowl Road and into the Homosassa River.

Rosenau et al., refer to this spring and the other Homosassa Headwaters Spring as the Southeast Fork of Homosassa Springs (1977, p. 84). The average combined flow of this spring and the other Headwaters Spring was 69.1 cubic feet per second, or about 45 million gallons per day.

Use/Access
The spring and run may be used for swimming by the houses that surround it. Its run is used like a canal for boats from the houses to access the Homosassa River. JF was not able to get a good view of the spring to photograph it, even when he stood on his car.

Local Springiana

A sign in the yard of one of the houses along the spring declares it to be Echo Spring. However, JF can find no other published source with this name for a spring at this site. Other possible candidates for the spring include Trotter, Trotter Main, McClain, or Abdoney Springs.
The spring can be accessed by boat from the Homosassa River, but no landfall can be made.

Personal Impressions
As with Sandbag Spring and numerous other springs in Florida, access to Echo is blocked by landowners who do not (and cannot) actually own the spring itself.

Nearby Springs

Other Homosassa Headwaters Spring
Homosassa Spring
Bluebird Spring
Crystal River/King’s Bay Springs Group
Chassahowitzka Springs Group
Rainbow Springs Group

Other Nearby Natural Features
Rainbow Springs State Park
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
Withlacoochie State Forest