← THE REGISTER / GULF COAST / SARASOTA COUNTY
Warm Mineral Springs
North Port, Sarasota County
GEOLOGICAL ANOMALY · UNDERWATER
8STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN
OUT OF TEN
WHAT IT IS
An 87-degree sinkhole spring pushing out nine million gallons a day, with 10,000-year-old human remains at the bottom.
The spring is a collapsed cavern 230 feet deep, warm year-round and heavily mineralised, and it has been an archaeological site of the first order: divers have recovered human bones and Paleoindian artefacts from ledges near the bottom, preserved by the low-oxygen water. Above the surface it operates as a faintly Soviet public bathing facility, and its clientele is devoted. The smell is sulphurous and nobody minds.
HOW IT SCORES
Rarity9/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory10/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair6/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment8/10
How far do they take the bit?
NEARBY
BEFORE YOU DRIVE
- ENTRY FEE
- $20
- HOURS
- Daily 9am–5pm
- BEST TIME
- Weekday morning. It is popular with regulars who arrive at opening.
- HOW LONG
- 2 hours
- PARKING
- Free lot
- PAYMENT
- Cards accepted
- ACCESS
- Sloped entry into the water; limited
DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.