Sandbag Spring
Jackson County
Summary of Features
- Scale -2nd magnitude (estimate)
- Scenery -very good
- How Pristine? -framed into a swimming pool in a back yard
- Swimming -private
- Protection -surrounded by private property
- Crowds -none
- Access -private
- Scuba -private
Directions
Accessible via canoe put-in at boat ramp along the Chipola River off Jefferson Street about 1.5 miles north of Marianna. From the center of town on U.S. 90, turn right onto Jefferson Street and proceed to the bridge over the river. Put in and paddle downstream 0.4 miles to first house on the right. The house is a wooden one on stilts over the river; look carefully for the spring run on the downstream side. Canoe around the house through the narrow opening—just downstream of the overhanging porch—to the spring.
Spring Description
Hardened sandbags surround the spring on three sides. Water flows from a limestone opening/fissure that is about 4 feet wide, 10 feet long, and tapering as it goes down to a depth of 8 feet or more. When first visited in the mid-1990s, the spring had a slide on the adjacent land that dumped directly into the area over the fissure/vent. This slide was gone on a subsequent visit in March 2004. The spring is about the size of a small backyard pool—about 8 feet wide and 15 feet long. Except when the Chipola River is high, the pring is clear. Small fish congregate over the vent. The run is about 75 feet long, 8 feet wide, and shallow at normal river levels. The river was 3-4 feet above normal height when visited in 2004, and the whole spring/pooldeck area and some surrounding land were flooded. The water was yellow-brownon this date, and the limestone fissure was not visible.
Use/Access
The residents appeared to have built their house to discourage access to this spring, and constructed a sort of pool around it. Presumably, the run is a navigable waterway and therefore accessible, but at the same time one feels very much like a trespasser paddling into the middle of someone's "pool." No one was at home when the authors visited the spring, much to the authors;relief.
Personal Impressions
As resentful as JF was that the surrounding landowners had made a personal pool out of the spring, in his secret heart of hearts he wished he had one,too!
Nearby Springs
- Blue Hole Spring
- Merritt's Mill Pond Springs (Blue, Shangri-La, Twin Caves, Indian Washtub, Hole-in-the-Rock, Gator)
- Baltzell (or Bosel or Bozell) Springs group
- Spring Lake Springs (Black, Double, Gadsen [or Gadsden], Millpond, Springboard)
- Unnamed Chipola grotto and cave springs
Other Nearby Natural Features
- Three Rivers State Park
- Falling Water State Park
- Torreya State Park
- Marianna Caverns State Park
- Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve