FANNING SPRINGS, FLORIDA · OCTOBER · 1991-2020 NORMALS
The average high at Fanning Springs falls from 88.0°F in September to 82.2°F in October, while the spring read 73.4°F when the USGS gauge at the vent was checked on September 11, 2026. The air has a season here. The water does not, and October is the month when the gap between the two settles into something you can swim in for a full afternoon without a shiver or a sunburn.
The rain shifts too. September totals 5.82 inches across 7.6 wet days, October 2.23 inches across 3.7. That is the trade this date offers a two-day trip: cooler afternoons, drier ones, and a park whose overnight inventory the state counts at five cabins and 130 parking spaces.
THE MONTH AT A GLANCE · FANNING SPRINGS
October drops the afternoon air to 82.2°F and the month’s rain to 2.23 inches while the spring holds near 73.4°F, which makes it the easiest swim-and-boardwalk month of the fall.
AIR 82.2°F / 59.9°F · WATER 73.4°F · 2.23 INCHES OF RAIN · 11H 30M OF DAYLIGHT
Go for: afternoon swims with 82.2°F air over 73.4°F water, 3.7 wet days instead of September’s 7.6, and 715 feet of boardwalk that does not need a storm window.
Think twice before: counting on a warm dawn. The average October low is 59.9°F, and the five park cabins are the only beds our sources count inside the gate.
Air: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020, Cross City AP · Water: USGS gauge 02323502 · Facilities: Florida DEP 2024 inventory
On this page
- How hot October afternoons getHighs of 82.2°F, lows of 59.9°F
- The temperature of the spring itself73.4°F at the USGS gauge
- Whether the park fills up130 parking spaces, five cabins
- Things to do at the spring715 feet of boardwalk, one swim area
- A two-day plan around the daylightSunrise 7:32 am, sunset 7:02 pm
- October against September and November5.82 inches, 2.23 inches, 2.10 inches
- Is October worth booking?Our verdict, with the case against
Every air figure here comes from NOAA’s 1991-2020 monthly normals for Cross City Airport, the nearest official station, roughly 27 miles (44 km) from the spring. The water figure comes from the USGS gauge at the vent itself. For the month before, we have Fanning Springs in September, and the wider Florida calendar sits in our best-time guide.
Fanning Springs weather in October: average highs, lows and rain days
| Measure | October | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 82.2°F | NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 |
| Average low | 59.9°F | NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 |
| Precipitation | 2.23 in | NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 3.7 | NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 |
| Days with 1.00 in or more | 0.4 | NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 |
| Daylight on Oct 15 | 11h 30m | sunrise-sunset.org |
| Spring water | 73.4°F (reading of Sep 11, 2026) | USGS gauge 02323502 |
NOAA’s normals for Cross City Airport put the October average high at 82.2°F, the average low at 59.9°F and the month’s rain at 2.23 inches. Those come from a real thermometer at an airport about 27 miles from the vent, averaged over 1991 to 2020, not from a reanalysis grid cell. Take them as the air over this stretch of the Suwannee country rather than as a measurement taken at the swim area.
In an average October, 3.7 days record at least 0.10 inch of rain, so measurable rain lands roughly one day in eight. Only 0.4 day reaches a full inch, which works out to a real soaking about two Octobers in five. For a two-day trip, that math says one wet half-day is possible and a washed-out weekend is unlikely.
The gap between that high and that low is 22.3°F, and it lands inside a single day. Pack for both ends: a fleece and long pants for a 7:30 am arrival, shorts and a spare towel for a 3 pm swim. Cabin sleepers should add a second layer for the porch, since the coldest hour of an October night sits well under 60°F on the average.
On October 15 the sun rises at 7:32 am local time and sets at 7:02 pm, 11 hours and 30 minutes apart by sunrise-sunset.org’s calculation. Under tree cover the useful light goes earlier than the clock suggests. Plan the last swim for 5 pm and start the drive out before 7, or you finish the boardwalk by phone light.
How warm is Fanning Springs in October?
Two temperatures matter, and they behave differently. The air averages a 82.2°F high and a 59.9°F low. The spring read 73.4°F (23.0°C) at the USGS gauge on September 11, 2026, and it reads close to that every day of the year. That last number is a single instantaneous reading, not an average of daily maxima and not a monthly mean, so treat it as the order of magnitude a spring-fed run holds rather than as an October-specific value.
In practice, arrive at dawn and 59.9°F feels genuinely cool in a t-shirt, especially damp. By mid-afternoon the air is in the low 80s and 73.4°F water catches your breath for about a minute before it stops mattering. That is the whole argument for an October swim: you get out into air that is still warm enough to dry you without a jacket.
We found no count of nights at or below 32°F in the normals we read, so we give none. What the NOAA figures do give is the direction of travel: the average low slides from 69.8°F in September to 59.9°F in October and 49.2°F in November. Anyone booking a cabin late in the month should plan for a cold morning rather than a frost.
How busy is Fanning Springs in October?
We found no occupancy series and no monthly room-rate series for Fanning Springs, so we crown no month expensive and no month cheap. What the state does publish is a capacity: 130 parking spaces at the park. When that lot fills, the gate closes, so the limit on a busy day is a count of cars, not a queue you can wait out with patience.
Five cabins is the entire overnight inventory the state counts inside the park, which turns an October weekend into a question of availability rather than of season pricing. We could not verify how far ahead those cabins open for booking, so we name no window. If they are gone, the beds are outside the gate and the day starts with a drive, and our Florida lodging guide covers how that usually shakes out.
We could not verify a lodging-tax rate for the counties around the spring, so no percentage goes in this paragraph. The park’s own fee schedule is missing from our sources as well: floridastateparks.org answered our automated reads with a 403 error on September 11, 2026. Call the ranger station before you budget the day, and assume the vehicle fee is charged per car, as at other Florida state parks.
The one place where spending more genuinely changes October is the cabin. Sleeping inside the gate removes the morning drive, puts you at the swim area while the air is still climbing toward 82.2°F, and makes the 130-space lot somebody else’s problem. Everything else about this month, the light, the water, the boardwalk, costs the same whether you arrive at 8 am or noon.
Things to do in Fanning Springs in October
October gives you the full afternoon back. With the month totaling 2.23 inches of rain across 3.7 wet days, a 2 pm plan usually holds, where September’s 5.82 inches and 88.0°F high push the same plan to early morning. November keeps the dry weather but drops the average high to 74.4°F, which makes a long swim a colder proposition on either side of the entry.
Fanning Springs State Park is the named list, and the state counts it precisely: one designated swimming area, one canoe, kayak and tube launch, 715 feet of boardwalk, one observation platform and five cabins, with those 130 parking spaces at the front. The spring is protected as an Outstanding Florida Spring under Florida Statutes 373.802(5), a class covering every historic first-magnitude spring the Florida Geological Survey recognizes plus six more named in the statute itself.
What the date changes is the distance between the two thermometers. In September the average high stands 14.6°F above the 73.4°F water. In October that gap narrows to 8.8°F. By November the average high is 74.4°F, a single degree above the spring. October is the last month of the three where the air does the work of warming you back up after a swim.
We found no October event at the spring and no free-admission date in our sources, so we list neither. The manatee question comes up for every Suwannee spring in the fall, and we cannot answer it with a number here: the FWC manatee pages render client-side and gave us no count or arrival date. Our manatee guide explains why winter, not October, is the season people actually travel for.
Fanning Springs in October: a two-day itinerary
Day one runs on the light. Sunrise is at 7:32 am, and the first two hours belong to the boardwalk and the observation platform, when the air is nearer 60°F than 80°F and the parking lot is nowhere near its 130 cars. Eat early, then let the afternoon do its job: swim between 1 and 4 pm, when the air is closest to the 82.2°F average and 73.4°F water stops being a shock. Out of the park by 6:30 pm, with sunset at 7:02.
Day two goes on the water: the park counts one canoe, kayak and tube launch, so the paddle starts where the swim ended. If the day is one of October’s 3.7 wet ones, move the paddle to the morning and keep the boardwalk for the shower, since a 0.10 inch day is a passing band rather than a whole afternoon. Driving distances in this part of Florida are longer than they look, and our getting-around guide has the numbers.
Fanning Springs in October vs September and November
| Measure | September | October | November |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 88.0°F | 82.2°F | 74.4°F |
| Average low | 69.8°F | 59.9°F | 49.2°F |
| Precipitation | 5.82 in | 2.23 in | 2.10 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 7.6 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Spring water | 73.4°F | 73.4°F | 73.4°F |
Set the three side by side and October sits almost exactly between its neighbors on temperature and much nearer November on rain. It gives up 5.8°F of afternoon heat to September and takes back 3.59 inches of rain and nearly four wet days. Against November it costs 0.13 inch of extra rain and buys 7.8°F of afternoon air and 10.7°F of overnight warmth. The spring, at 73.4°F, ignores all three columns.
Shift four weeks later and you gain the driest air of the fall and the quietest lot, and you lose the warm exit from the water: a 74.4°F average high leaves you toweling off in air barely above the spring. Shift four weeks earlier and you get the 88.0°F afternoons back, along with 7.6 wet days and the tail of hurricane season, which is a poor bet for a non-refundable cabin.
Is October a good time to visit Fanning Springs?
Yes, for anyone whose trip is built around getting in the water and staying out of the rain. Two and a half fewer inches of rain than September, an average high still above 80°F, and a swim area that holds its temperature no matter what the sky does. It is a weaker month for anyone who wants a long, lazy, bathwater float in warm air from breakfast onward, because October mornings start near 59.9°F.
If that morning chill is the deal-breaker, September is the month to pick, and the price is 5.82 inches of rain over 7.6 days plus the storm risk that comes with the calendar. If the swim matters less than the walk, November is drier still at 2.10 inches and quieter at the gate, with a 49.2°F average low that makes a cabin, rather than a tent, the sensible booking.
No other month of the three pairs an 82.2°F afternoon with fewer than four wet days, and that combination is what October alone puts above a spring that never changes.
The last word
Decide the bed first and the rest of this trip arranges itself: one of the five cabins, or an early arrival that beats the 130-space lot. Then stop worrying about the water. The same gauge that read 73.4°F measured 41 cubic feet per second leaving the vent, which is why the run stays clear in October exactly as in July: it is replaced faster than it can cloud. Bring a mask, and check the fee at the station before you hand over a card.
Sources & data for this guide
- October, September and November air normals (highs, lows, precipitation, wet days) · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012833, Cross City AP, FL US · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Sunrise 7:32 am, sunset 7:02 pm and 11h 30m of daylight on October 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to local time · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Spring water at 73.4°F (23.0°C) and discharge of 41 cubic feet per second · U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System, station 02323502 Fanning Springs, instantaneous reading · checked Sep 24, 2026
- 130 parking spaces, 1 swimming area, 1 paddle launch, 715 feet of boardwalk, 1 observation platform, 5 cabins · Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Recreational Facilities Inventory 2024 · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Outstanding Florida Springs definition · Florida Statutes 373.802(5), leg.state.fl.us · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Editorial admission: floridastateparks.org returned a 403 to our automated reads and the FWC manatee pages render client-side, so we quote no entrance fee, no opening hour and no manatee count · checked Sep 24, 2026