Falmouth Sporing is a first magnitude spring, technically a karst window also known as the shortest river in the world.
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The river rise or spring is deceptively calm because it is quite wide and deep. At first glance it does not appear that water is flowing from the spring.
I couldn't help but feel frightened by this huge, dark pool in a deserted forest.
However, a short distance downstream from the rise pool the river becomes more shallow with a white sand bottom and significant flow. Here, the spring looks very inviting.
A karst window is an underground river where the top surface has fallen in and created an opening between the vent (where the water comes out) and the siphon (where the water goes underground).
The daily water flow from the spring is more than 65 million gallons and appears as an elongated pool.
A few hundred feet from the river rise are small rapids leading to another large pool where a whirlpool sucks the river into a limestone cave. Again, there is a very spooky feel to these large pools on either end of Falmouth River.
I would be reluctant to swim in either pool at Falmouth but the water was nice on a mid-winter day in the middle few hundred feet of the river. The water is about 72° F (22° F) year round.
During Suwannee River floods events the spring will reverse flow with water from the river flowing from the siphon to the vent at a noticeable level.
On this winter day, however, the limestone banks of the river are high and dry. It is about 20 feet from the river up to the first ledge, and another 10 feet (a total of 30 feet or 10 m) to ground level.
Falmouth Spring in the early 1900s was known as Midland Spring. The estimated flow in 1925 was 100,000 gallons of water per minute.
Over the course of a day the output would be 114,400,000 gallons.
On September 14, 2014 the Suwannee River Water Management District (that owns the land around Falmouth Spring) along with the Florida Geological Survey conducted a dye trace and within days the dye appeared at nearby Suwanneecooche Springs on the Withlacoochee River. The dye also appeared at Ellaville Spring, Lime Run Spring and Lime Sink Spring in Suwannee River State Park.
The area around Falmouth Spring tract is primarily sandhill and upland mixed forests. Wildlife and plant viewing opportunities include deer, turkeys, squirrels, gopher tortoises, Florida spinypods, angel pods, atamasco lilies and wading birds in the spring run (or "river").
The park has a kind of deserted feel. The boardwalks are rotting and covered with pine needles and tree debris. The entry sign is falling apart and there is kind of a spooky feel to the park.
I admit to being afraid to leave my locked car unattended in the parking area when I heard someone arrive high above the spring. Its that kind of a feeling out in the middle of nowhere and looking very much forgotten.
To find Falmouth head west on I-10 from Lake Oak and get off at the first US 90 exit to Twin Rivers and Suwannee River State Parks. If you get to the state parks you've missed Falmouth. The spring is about mid-way between I-10 and the Suwannee River (about 4 miles either way).
There is nothing indicating a park is nearby, only this little sign saying "Falmouth" and a big wooden cross. No idea what the cross signifies. The only north-south road nearby is 185th Road just to the east of Falmouth Spring.
I ran up and checked on my car several times as I heard noises in the parking area. There was never anyone there. It is a very deserted place but not somewhere I felt comfortable being alone for long.
Its a shame that this place is so neglected as to make the occasional visitor feel uncomfortable, but this is a symptom of government underfunding prevalent with Florida Republican administrations in recent years. There is no money for upkeep of Florida's spectacular natural features so they are left to vandals and nature. The solution to the underfunding problem? Vote Independent or Democrat in 2020. There is no other choice if you love Florida's natural environment.
See more of my photos of Falmouth and nearby Twin Rivers and Suwannee River State Parks at
Phillip's Natural World.
