Salt Springs is the largest of the Ocala National Forest's developed springs and the only one that tastes faintly of the sea. Several vents on the bottom of the pool push out around 52 million gallons a day of water carrying enough magnesium and potassium salts to give it a mild brackish edge, and the mineral content is why blue crabs live in a freshwater spring 40 miles from the coast. The swimming area is a big, shallow, concrete-edged basin with sandy and rocky footing and a series of boils in the middle where the water wells up from the limestone about 36 feet down. Water temperature holds in the low 70s year round, which feels cold in August and warm in January.

The recreation area is run by a Forest Service concessionaire, and there is a per-person day-use fee of about $12 to $15 collected at the gate. It covers the swim area, the bathhouse with showers and changing rooms, a grassy picnic lawn with tables and grills, and the Salt Springs Trail, a two-mile loop through sand pine scrub and hardwoods that ends at an observation deck over the marsh where Salt Springs Run leaves the pool. No pets are allowed in the day-use area.

Snorkeling is the main event. Visibility over the boils is excellent on most days, and the mix of freshwater fish, mullet, and crabs picking along the rocks keeps kids in the water for hours. There are no lifeguards. The run flows about four miles east to Lake George, and the marina across the road rents canoes and kayaks and has a boat launch; paddling the run is a flat, easy trip with a good chance of manatees in the cooler months and gators on the banks in any month.

The campground is one of the biggest in the national forest system, with 160 sites split between 106 full-hookup RV sites and 54 tent sites, all reservable through recreation.gov. Sites are under live oaks and pines a short walk from the spring. The little community of Salt Springs on SR 19 has a grocery, restaurants and a post office, and the springs sit at the north end of the forest about an hour from Ocala, Palatka or Daytona Beach.

The name goes back to William Bartram, who visited in 1774 and wrote about the salt taste and the crystal boils; the Bartram Trail markers in the forest follow his route. Silver Glen Springs and Juniper Springs, the other two swimming springs in the forest, are 10 and 20 miles south on SR 19 if you want to make a weekend of it.