FLORIDA · DECEMBER · SANTA FE RIVER
December puts Gilchrist Blue Springs on a short, cool clock. On the 15th the sun rises at 7:17 a.m. and sets at 5:34 p.m., afternoons average 69.3°F and dawns 45.2°F. A swim still fits the trip. You simply build the day around the warm middle hours and pack for a morning that feels like late fall anywhere else in the South.
You have already picked the spring, so the question is the date. Against November, December gives up 5.4°F of afternoon warmth and adds a wet day and a half. Against January, it keeps 2.2°F more at midday. Where to sleep, how to fly in and what the park offers year-round live in our Florida lodging guide, flights guide and things-to-do guide.
DECEMBER AT A GLANCE · GILCHRIST BLUE SPRINGS
Go in December for a midday swim under 69.3°F afternoons, and pack for 45.2°F dawns and a 5:34 p.m. sunset.
AVG HIGH 69.3°F · 3.7 FROST NIGHTS · SUNSET 5:34 P.M.
Go for: a spring swim timed to the warmest hours, cool walking weather, and a trip that fits the holiday calendar.
Think twice before: planning a dawn swim or a night in a tent without a freezing-rated bag: 3.7 December nights fall to 32°F or below.
Climate: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020, Gainesville Regional · Daylight: sunrise-sunset.org · full sources at the end
On this page
- December highs, lows and rain days69.3°F highs, 45.2°F lows, 4.5 wet days
- How cold the mornings getA 24.1°F daily swing and 3.7 frost nights
- Crowds and room prices in DecemberHoliday weeks, booking and lodging tax
- Things to do in DecemberThe spring run, the Santa Fe River and Ginnie Springs
- A one-day plan for DecemberMorning to sunset, from 7:17 a.m. to 5:34 p.m.
- November or January instead?How the three months compare on heat and rain
- Should I go in December?Who December suits and who should wait
Every figure here is a NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normal from station USW00012816 at Gainesville Regional. The same thermometer serves Ginnie Springs, a few miles up the same stretch of the Santa Fe River. Read the numbers as the nearest official reading of the air, and expect the spring run under its trees to feel its own way on any given morning.
Gilchrist Blue Springs weather in December: average highs, lows and rain days
| December normal (1991-2020) | Value |
|---|---|
| Average high | 69.3°F |
| Average low | 45.2°F |
| Precipitation | 2.88 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 4.5 |
| Days with 1 in or more | 0.9 |
| Nights at 32°F or below | 3.7 |
| Daylight on Dec 15 | 10 h 17 min |
| Sunrise / sunset, Dec 15 | 7:17 a.m. / 5:34 p.m. EST |
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information set the December normal at 69.3°F for the high and 45.2°F for the low, with 2.88 inches of precipitation, averaged over thirty years at the Gainesville Regional station. That is a station normal from an instrument on the ground. A reanalysis grid cell such as ERA5 can land a few degrees away, so we tell you which one you are reading.
Measurable rain, 0.10 inch or more, falls on 4.5 days of an average December: roughly one day in seven. On a five-night trip, one wet day is a fair bet and a fully dry stay is just as plausible. Check the forecast the evening before, give the swim the clearest day, and keep one afternoon unassigned so a rain day costs you nothing.
Dawn and mid-afternoon sit 24.1°F apart, so one December day runs from jacket weather to T-shirt weather. The bag follows: a fleece or puffy for the walk from the car, a warm hat, a thick towel or changing robe, and a full set of dry clothes to pull on the minute you leave the water. Water shoes help too, since wet feet cool fast at 45°F.
December 15 brings about 10 hours 17 minutes of daylight, from a 7:17 a.m. sunrise to a 5:34 p.m. sunset, Eastern Standard Time (sunrise-sunset.org gives 12:17 and 22:34 UTC). Plan to be out of the water, dried and dressed before the sun drops, because the air starts sliding back toward the overnight low once it does.
How warm is Gilchrist Blue Springs in December?
Afternoons average 69.3°F and dawns 45.2°F, a spread of 24.1°F. November shows the identical 24.1°F swing and January 24.5°F, so across the three months it is the level that moves while the gap holds. We could not verify a December water temperature for the spring itself, so we give no water figure. Ask the park before you go if the number decides your swim.
In practice you dress twice. At 8 or 9 a.m. it is long pants, closed shoes and a warm layer, with the swimsuit underneath. By early afternoon the layer comes off, and that is the window for the water. Swimmers who run cold should bring a wetsuit or a neoprene top, since getting out into 60-something air feels chillier than getting in.
Yes, it freezes: 3.7 nights in an average December fall to 32°F or below at the station, about one night in eight. A frost morning means ice on the windshield and a late start. Anyone sleeping in a tent or an unheated camper nearby needs a bag rated below freezing, and a thermos of something hot for sunrise.
How busy is Gilchrist Blue Springs in December: crowds and prices
Our Florida guide places the springs at their best in summer, which puts December outside the swim season on the calendar. Statewide, the holiday weeks are the annual price peaks. We found no occupancy or room-rate series for the area around the spring, so we rank no December week as cheap or expensive.
We found no booking-window data either, so we give no number of weeks. The practical move: if your dates touch Christmas or New Year’s, reserve a refundable room and your flight as soon as the dates are fixed, then keep watching. Early December dates carry less holiday pressure on the calendar. Our Florida trip-cost guide sets out the budget tiers.
We could not verify the lodging-tax rate for Gilchrist County, so we give no percentage. Ask for the total with taxes and fees when you book, and compare that figure across properties rather than the nightly rate alone.
The one purchase that changes a December trip is warmth: a wetsuit, bought or rented, and a heated room to come back to. With 45.2°F dawns and 3.7 frost nights, those two decide whether you swim once or every day. Check outfitters near the river for rental prices when you plan.
Things to do in Gilchrist Blue Springs in December
December allows a long midday outdoors at an average 69.3°F, warm enough for a swim and cool enough for a walk that leaves you dry. Of the three months around it, only December pairs that afternoon with the holiday break most travelers have off, so a family trip fits here without pulling anyone out of school.
The spring feeds a short run into the Santa Fe River, and Ginnie Springs sits a few miles up the same stretch, close enough to share a weather station at Gainesville Regional. We could not verify the December entry fee, gate hours or parking capacity for either, so none appears. For manatee season elsewhere in the state, our manatee guide has the details.
A spring keeps a steady temperature through the year while the air above it swings. In December that swing reaches 24.1°F in a day, so the same water feels bracing at 7:17 a.m. under a 45°F sky and pleasant at 2 p.m. under a 69°F one. Choose your hour and the spring feels like a different place.
We could not verify any free-entry day at the spring for December, and we cite no holiday event, because our sources dated none. What costs nothing is the view from the bank at the end of the day: sunset lands at 5:34 p.m. on the 15th, early enough to watch it and still make dinner.
Gilchrist Blue Springs day trip in December
Sunrise is 7:17 a.m., and the air sits near its 45.2°F low then, so leave the early hours for breakfast and the drive. Confirm the gate time with the park the night before, since we could not verify it. Arrive mid-morning, walk the grounds in your warm layer, and stake out a sunny spot. Around late morning to 1 p.m., as the air climbs toward 69.3°F, get in the water.
After lunch, swim again or paddle while the day is warmest, and be out and dressed by about 4:30 p.m., an hour before the 5:34 sunset. On a frost morning, push everything back an hour and swim at 2 p.m. If a front brings one of December’s 4.5 rain days, leave the water at the first thunder, save the swim for the next dry afternoon and fill the gap from our Florida things-to-do guide.
Gilchrist Blue Springs in December vs November and January
| NOAA normal, 1991-2020 | November | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 74.7°F | 69.3°F | 67.1°F |
| Average low | 50.6°F | 45.2°F | 42.6°F |
| Precipitation | 1.79 in | 2.88 in | 3.29 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 3.0 | 4.5 | 5.2 |
All three columns come from the same Gainesville Regional station and the same 1991-2020 period. November runs 5.4°F warmer than December at both ends of the day, with 1.09 fewer inches of rain and 1.5 fewer wet days. January drops another 2.2°F at midday and 2.6°F at dawn, and adds 0.41 inch and 0.7 wet day.
Moving four weeks earlier buys you afternoons near 75°F and the driest of the three months, at the cost of the December holiday break for anyone tied to a school calendar. Moving four weeks later gives you the same 2-week-and-change daylight range with colder, wetter days. Our January guide has that month in full.
Is December a good time to visit Gilchrist Blue Springs?
Yes, if you can swim in the early afternoon and like a cool walk, and if the holiday break is when you travel anyway. No, if the swim is the whole point and you want to linger in the water from morning to evening: 45.2°F dawns and a 5:34 p.m. sunset shrink the comfortable window to a few hours.
If December is a no, pick November. Its 74.7°F afternoons and 50.6°F mornings stretch the swim window, and with 3.0 wet days and 1.79 inches it is the driest of the three months. The Florida-wide calendar sits in our best time to visit Florida guide.
Of the three months, only December holds the winter solstice week and its shortest days while afternoons still average 69.3°F.
The last word
Book December if you can be in the water by 1 p.m. and dry by the 5:34 sunset, and bring the wetsuit even if you think you won’t need it. One more figure for the planning: an average December brings 0.9 day with an inch of rain or more, roughly one real downpour a month. If it lands on your spring day, you swim the next afternoon instead, when the air climbs back toward 69°F.
Sources & data for this guide
- December normals (69.3°F / 45.2°F, 2.88 in), rain days (4.5 at 0.10 in+, 0.9 at 1 in+), nights at 32°F or below (3.7) · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012816, Gainesville Regional · checked Sep 24, 2026
- November and January normals · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, same station · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Station coverage: the Gainesville Regional station also serves Ginnie Springs on the same stretch of the Santa Fe River · NOAA NCEI · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Daylight, sunrise and sunset on Dec 15 (12:17 and 22:34 UTC, converted to EST) · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Editorial note: we could not verify the spring’s December water temperature, the entry fee, gate hours, parking capacity, any free-entry day or the county lodging-tax rate, so no figure appears for them. Check with the park and your lodging when you book.
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Gilchrist Blue Springs: Month-by-Month Highs, Rain and the Quietest Weeks
- Gilchrist Blue Springs in January: Weather, Freeze Nights and a Two-Day Plan
- Gilchrist Blue Springs in November: Weather, Frost Nights, Crowds and October vs December
- Gilchrist Blue Springs in February: Weather, Crowds and How It Compares to January and March