ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS · DECEMBER · THE MONTH GUIDE
Most people meet Ichetucknee in July, when the water is a relief and the 909-space lot is a competition. December flips the terms. Afternoons average a high of 68.2°F, the state’s summer figure of as many as 3,000 visitors a day belongs to another season entirely, and the river leaving the vent is doing in December exactly what it did in August.
What the month takes back is daylight and the walk to the car. On December 15 the sun rises at 7:18 a.m. and sets at 5:34 p.m., mornings average 44.4°F, and 6.2 nights in a typical December reach freezing. Nobody floats for four hours in that, and the people who have the best day here plan around it.
THE MONTH AT A GLANCE · ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS · DECEMBER
December gives you 68.2°F afternoons, a spring with no season and a parking lot nobody is racing for, in exchange for a 5:34 p.m. sunset and a genuinely cold exit from the water.
AIR 68.2°F / 44.4°F · 4.6 WET DAYS · 10 H 16 OF DAYLIGHT ON DEC 15
Go for: swimming and paddling without summer gate math, 4.2 miles of hiking trail in 68°F air, and a river that runs the same all twelve months.
Think twice before: planning a long float with small children: mornings average 44.4°F and the light is gone by 5:34 p.m.
Air normals: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020, Cross City AP · Flow: USGS 02322685 · Facilities: Florida DEP · full sources at the end
On this page
- December weather at the spring68.2°F highs and 4.6 wet days
- How cold the mornings get44.4°F lows and 6.2 freezing nights
- Crowds and parking in December909 spaces, and what we could not price
- Things to do at Ichetucknee in DecemberTwo swim areas, 4.2 miles of trail
- A two-day plan around a 5:34 p.m. sunsetBoth days, hour by hour
- December, November or January?How the three months compare
- Is December worth the drive?Who should come, who should wait
How the launches connect, where the tubes come from and what the run looks like in July belong to the park guide. The normals below are December’s alone, and they describe the air. The spring underneath has no season at all, and that gap is the whole story of a winter visit.
Ichetucknee Springs weather in December: average highs, lows and rain days
| December at Ichetucknee | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average high | 68.2°F |
| Average low | 44.4°F |
| Precipitation | 2.95 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 4.6 |
| Days with 1 in or more | 0.8 |
| Nights at 32°F or below | 6.2 |
| Daylight on Dec 15 | 10 h 16 min |
December averages a high of 68.2°F, a low of 44.4°F and 2.95 inches of rain. Those figures come from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, the 1991-2020 monthly normals, and the thermometer is not at the spring: it stands at the Cross City airport station, about 27 miles (44 km) away. They are air readings taken at an airfield, not water readings taken at the vent, and our sources carry no published temperature for the water itself.
Measurable rain falls on 4.6 days in an average December, roughly one day in seven, and only 0.8 day tops a full inch. A tenth of an inch in north Florida usually means a front crossing in an hour or two rather than a lost day, and the 1,472 feet of boardwalk handles it fine. The inch-plus day is the one that ends swimming plans, and it shows up in about four Decembers out of five.
Between the average low and the average high sits 23.8 degrees, and all of it arrives inside one morning. Pack for two climates in one bag: a fleece and a wool hat for the 8 a.m. parking lot, a t-shirt for 2 p.m., and a full set of dry clothes left in the car rather than in the day bag. Wet skin at 68°F with any breeze on it cools faster than the number suggests.
Daylight on December 15 runs 10 hours 16 minutes, sunrise at 7:18 a.m. and sunset at 5:34 p.m. in local time. Under tree cover along the river the usable light goes earlier than the clock says, closer to 5 p.m. That leaves a warm core between roughly 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and everything you want to do in the water belongs inside it.
How warm is Ichetucknee Springs in December?
The 68.2°F figure is an average of daily maximums, the warmest point of a typical afternoon, not the temperature of the whole day. Averaged over 24 hours the air sits between 68.2 and 44.4, closer to the middle. For the spring run itself we found no verified reading, so no water temperature appears under our byline, only the fact the state relies on: the flow is constant, and so is what it carries.
In practice you arrive dressed like a hiker and undress like a swimmer. At 9 a.m. a fleece and long pants are not overkill, and gloves are reasonable on the coldest mornings. By early afternoon the same 68.2°F air makes a swim pleasant going in and unpleasant coming out, so the order matters: towel, hoodie and dry socks staged on the bank before you get in, not after.
Freezing nights are real here. An average December records 6.2 nights at 32°F or below, about one in five, which is why a dawn start at a north Florida spring can involve scraping a windshield before driving anything. None of that reaches the water, and the run keeps moving regardless of what the thermometer did at 4 a.m.
How busy is Ichetucknee Springs in December? Crowds, prices and the demand peak
Florida’s environmental department names the park among the finest of its spring parks for canoeing, kayaking and tubing, and puts its busy period squarely in summer, with as many as 3,000 visitors a day in the peak months. December is not one of them. We found no monthly visitor series and no monthly rate data for the area, so we crown no month cheapest and no month emptiest, and we stick to what the state publishes.
What closes the park on a hot Saturday is capacity: 909 parking spaces, and when the lot fills the gate shuts. That mechanic mostly sleeps in December, which takes the pressure off an early alarm, with one caveat we cannot size for you: the week between Christmas and New Year moves Florida parks in ways ordinary December does not. Call the park the day before if your trip lands there. Beds and budget for the wider trip sit in our lodging guide and the cost breakdown.
On money at the gate, our cards go on the table. We could not read the park’s entrance fee or its opening hours: the state parks site answered our automated reads with a 403 on September 11, 2026. We could not verify a local lodging-tax rate either, so we give no percentage. Anyone quoting you a spring-park fee from a different park is quoting a different park.
The one purchase that changes a December day here is neoprene. A wetsuit top, or a full suit if you plan to float rather than swim laps, converts a ten-minute dip into an afternoon, because what ends winter swims at a constant spring is the air on wet skin rather than the water. Rent or buy it before you drive: we carry no rental price for the park itself.
Things to do in Ichetucknee Springs in December
December buys you the park at low occupancy without asking you to give up the water, and that combination exists in no summer month. The same launches, the same run and the same 909 spaces are there, minus the crowd the state describes at peak. You trade the 3 p.m. float for a 1 p.m. one and get the bank to yourself.
Counted by Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, Ichetucknee Springs State Park holds 2 designated swimming areas, 2.8 miles of paddling trail, 4.2 miles of hiking trail and 1,472 feet of boardwalk. Two state documents disagree slightly on launches: the facilities inventory counts 4 canoe, kayak and tube launches, while the department’s springs page describes three separate canoe and tube launches on more than seven miles of swiftly flowing river. We serve both counts rather than picking one.
None of that changes with the calendar, and neither does the water. A U.S. Geological Survey reading at station 02322685 on September 11, 2026 measured 23 cubic feet per second leaving the vent, a volume replaced faster than it can cloud. What December moves is the air around it: 23.8 degrees of swing between dawn and mid-afternoon, against a spring that does not move at all.
On what costs nothing extra once you are through the gate, the trails and the boardwalk qualify, and in December they are a genuine plan rather than a consolation. We found no manatee count for Ichetucknee, so we promise none; Florida’s reliable winter manatee water has its own guide, and the parks overview handles the rest of the state’s protected land.
Ichetucknee Springs in December: a two-day itinerary
Day one starts late on purpose. Sunrise is 7:18 a.m. and the air is near its 44.4°F low, so arrive around 9:30 and walk first: the 4.2 miles of hiking trail warm you while the day climbs. Swim between 11:30 and 2:30, inside the warm core, using one of the two designated swimming areas. Dry off, take the boardwalk in the low light, and be walking to the car by 4:45, with the sun down at 5:34.
Day two goes on the water: the 2.8 miles of paddling trail, launched mid-morning so you finish before the temperature drops back. If one of the month’s 4.6 wet days lands on you, a tenth of an inch is a boardwalk day with a change of clothes waiting. The inch-plus soaking, the 0.8-day event, is the one to trade for a drive, and the statewide list has the indoor alternatives.
Ichetucknee Springs in December vs November and January
| Measure | November | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 74.4°F | 68.2°F | 65.9°F |
| Average low | 49.2°F | 44.4°F | 41.8°F |
| Precipitation | 2.10 in | 2.95 in | 3.38 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 3.4 | 4.6 | 5.7 |
| Spring water | Unchanged year-round | Unchanged year-round | Unchanged year-round |
All three columns come from the same NOAA 1991-2020 series at Cross City, so the comparison is like for like. The big step down is November to December: 6.2 degrees off the afternoon high and 4.8 off the low. December to January is gentler at 2.3 and 2.6 degrees. Rain climbs steadily, from 2.10 inches to 2.95 to 3.38, and wet days from 3.4 to 4.6 to 5.7. The spring ignores every line of it.
Shifting four weeks back to November buys warmer afternoons and 1.2 fewer wet days, which is the better bet for a long float. Shifting forward to January buys nothing in the air: colder days, colder nights and an extra wet day per month. What January offers is the same water at a quieter time of year, and the choice comes down to how long you intend to stay in it.
Is December a good time to visit Ichetucknee Springs?
Yes, for hikers, paddlers and swimmers who accept a brisk exit. A 68.2°F afternoon over water that never changes is a good deal, and the summer capacity problem is not yours. No, for a group planning a lazy multi-hour tube float, and no for young children who will be cold before the adults notice; our family guide argues that case in more detail.
If the float is the point, move to November. The 74.4°F average high is the difference between getting out promptly and staying in, and 3.4 wet days beat December’s 4.6. The trade is the summer crowd tail, still thinning through that month, and the statewide calendar puts it against the rest of Florida.
What December alone gives you is the last month with afternoons still near 70°F before January drops them to 65.9, over a spring that has already emptied of its 3,000-a-day summer.
The last word
Pick a clear weekday, aim for the 11-to-3 window, and treat the walk back to the car as the coldest part of your day, because it will be. One thing worth knowing while you are floating: Florida law singles this water out. Statute 373.802(5) defines the Outstanding Florida Springs as every historic first-magnitude spring the Geological Survey recognizes, plus six named by hand in the text. Leave the dry clothes in the car, not in the day bag.
Sources & data for this guide
- December air normals: high 68.2°F, low 44.4°F, 2.95 in, 4.6 days at 0.10 in or more, 0.8 day at 1 in or more, 6.2 nights at or below 32°F · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012833, Cross City AP, FL, about 27 miles from the spring · checked Sep 24, 2026
- November and January normals (74.4/49.2/2.10/3.4 and 65.9/41.8/3.38/5.7) · same NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 series and station · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Sunrise 7:18 a.m., sunset 5:34 p.m. and 10 h 16 min of daylight on Dec 15, converted from 12:18 and 22:34 UTC · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Discharge of 23 cubic feet per second at the vent · U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System, station 02322685 Ichetucknee Springs · instantaneous reading, Sep 11, 2026
- 909 parking spaces, 2 designated swimming areas, 4 canoe, kayak and tube launches, 2.8 mi of paddling trail, 4.2 mi of hiking trail, 1,472 ft of boardwalk · Florida DEP Recreational Facilities Inventory, 2024 annual report · checked Sep 24, 2026
- More than seven miles of swiftly flowing river, three separate canoe and tube launches, as many as 3,000 visitors a day in peak summer months · Florida DEP, Visit a Spring · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Outstanding Florida Springs definition · Florida Statutes 373.802(5), leg.state.fl.us · checked Sep 24, 2026
- We could not read an entrance fee, an opening hour or a manatee count: floridastateparks.org returned 403 to our automated reads on Sep 11, 2026, and the state’s manatee page renders client-side. Call the park before you drive.