Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is a
Florida State Park
There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists.
Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non-pr ...
located on Peacock Springs Road, two miles (3 km) east of
Luraville and on
State Road 51, southwest of
Live Oak, Florida
Live Oak is a city in northern Florida and it is the county seat of Suwannee County, Florida, United States. The city is the county seat of Suwannee County and is located east of Tallahassee. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census ...
. Activities include picnicking, swimming and diving, and wildlife viewing. Among the wildlife of the park are
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
,
bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
s,
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
,
squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
s,
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
and
otter
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...
s, as well as
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
blue heron and barred
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
s. The park name commemorates the work of diver and explorer
Wes Skiles
Wesley C. Skiles (March 6, 1958 – July 21, 2010) was an American cave diving pioneer, explorer, and underwater cinematographer. Skiles lived in High Springs, Florida.
Background
Skiles was born on March 6, 1958, in Jacksonville, Florida, and ...
.
Prior to 2010 the park was known as Peacock Springs State Park. Amenities include a nature trail, six sinkholes, and Peacock and Bonnet Springs, with miles of underwater caves popular with
cave divers. The two springs are tributaries of the
Suwannee River
The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...
. The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year round.
Expansion
In 2006,
The Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...
purchased approximately for expansion of the park.
This donation more than doubled the size of the park that was previously .
Cave System
![Image-Peacock Springs Entrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Image-Peacock_Springs_Entrance.jpg)
The Peacock cave system is a
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
environment in
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
.
The Peacock Springs Cave system was first explored by Vasco Murray in 1956.
The first map of the system was completed by the
National Speleological Society
The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in H ...
team leader,
Sheck Exley
Sheck Exley (April 1, 1949 – April 6, 1994) was an American cave diver. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cave diving, and he wrote two major books on the subject: '' Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival'' and ''Caverns Mea ...
, in 1995.
Exley's team made over 521 dives to complete the survey. A resurvey of the system was completed in 1996 by a team led by Michael Poucher. As of June 13, 2008, the Peacock cave system was the 24th longest underwater cave in the world at 7408 meters.
In 2010, a connection was made by
Agnes Milowka and James Toland between Baptizing and Peacock springs, extending the total length of the system an additional .
On April 25, 2002, in order to protect the cave system from damage, the park stopped allowing divers to use
Diver Propulsion Vehicle
A diver propulsion vehicle (DPV), also known as an underwater propulsion vehicle, sea scooter, underwater scooter, or swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) by armed forces, is an item of diving equipment used by scuba divers to increase range underw ...
s (DPV).
It is one of the largest underwater caves in the continental
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
with over of explored passageway. The cave system consists of seven major springs and sinkholes, six of which are located within Peacock Springs State Park. Peacock Springs is a popular destination for cave divers all over the world and is extensively used to train new cave divers.
Springs and Sinkholes
Peacock I
The Peacock I Spring is the most accessible and most popular site in the system with an elevated walkway and stairs leading to the spring. There are three passageways that converge on the spring called the Pothole tunnel, the Peanut tunnel and the Peacock II tunnel. Each of these three tunnels has a permanent guideline (called a gold line) placed in it to ease navigation by cave divers.
Pothole Tunnel
The Pothole tunnel, named for the sinkhole down the tunnel from Peacock I, is the deepest of the three tunnels with a maximum depth of . It contains large open passageways, relatively high ceilings and a silt bottom. The walls are often covered in silt but occasionally the silt will be blown away by floods exposing the white limestone underneath.
Peanut Tunnel
The Peanut tunnel is a relatively shallow and narrow tunnel. It is named for a section that resembles the two lobes of a peanut. Its depths range from . At approximately into the tunnel, crossover tunnels connect the Peanut tunnel to the Pothole tunnel.
Peacock II Tunnel
The Peacock II tunnel leads to Peacock II spring.
Peacock II
Peacock II Spring is a smaller spring than Peacock I. It is one of only two sites available for diving by open water divers, as it contains no access to the cave system.
Pothole
Pothole is a small inline sink approximately one third of the distance between Peacock I and Olsen. The sinkhole has a very small entrance into the Peacock Springs cave system and due to the steep sides, it is inaccessible to cave divers.
Olsen Sink
Olsen is a small inline sinkhole approximately from Peacock I down the Pothole tunnel. There are two small entrances into the cave system at Olsen dropping into the same tunnel. Being central to the cave system, Olsen was once a popular entrance for cave divers as it allowed easy access to much of the cave. To prevent erosion, cave divers are no longer permitted to enter at Olsen sink as of 2002, although it remains a popular place to temporarily surface during a dive.
Orange Grove
Orange Grove is a large terminal sinkhole northeast of Peacock I. With a raised walkway and stairs leading into the sinkhole, it is a popular entrance into the cave. Two winding tunnels extend from the sinkhole called Lower Orange Grove and Upper Orange Grove. Lower Orange Grove is a deeper tunnel extending down to . As a very advanced dive, it is not as popular as Upper Orange Grove. Upper Orange Grove is a winding tunnel in all three dimensions starting at deep and becoming as shallow as . The tunnel extends outside Peacock Spring State Park to Challenge Sink.
Challenge Sink
Challenge is an inline sink, the northernmost sinkhole in the system, and is the only sinkhole outside of the Peacock Springs State Park. Steep sides make entering and exiting Challenge difficult. It is a popular destination for divers entering Upper Orange Grove.
Cisteen Sink
Cisteen is a large offset sink like Orange Grove. It offers a very small, silty entrance to the cave system, and is usually covered in a thick layer of duckweed.
Peacock III
Peacock III is a siphon, meaning it takes in water rather than discharging it, as a spring would. Peacock III has a separate system from Peacock I, II, and its related sinks. The system is very low, silty, and shallow, except for one room, Henley's Castle, which drops to depths of over .
Waterhole
Waterhole is another offset sink. It contains geological features not seen in the rest of the system, such as low bedding planes, as opposed to the vaulted ceilings found in the rest of the system.
Gallery
File:Peacock Springs SP Orange Grove Sink01.jpg, Orange Grove Sink with algae (2009)
Wes Skiles Peacock Springs Orange Grove 2.jpg, Orange Grove Sink without algae (2022)
File:Peacock Springs SP spring I01.jpg, Spring I
File:Peacock Springs SP spring II02.jpg, Spring II
References
External links
Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Parka
Florida State Parksa
Absolutely Florida
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Parks in Suwannee County, Florida
State parks of Florida
Caves of Florida
Landforms of Suwannee County, Florida
Bodies of water of Suwannee County, Florida
Springs of Florida