In general, you find California juniper on dry, rocky slopes, ridges, and valleys where soils are porous, rocky, coarse, or sandyplaces where most plants don’t thrive. Juniper Spring discharges around 5 to 6 million gallons of water a day into the 90- by 120-foot pool. Pinyon-juniper woodlands are typical of southwest desert transition plant communities, woven among an interesting mix of chaparral, desert, and montane plants. Hundreds of small bubbling springs and large gushing springs comprise Juniper Springs, a second-magnitude spring surrounded by palms and oaks in a scrub ecosystem. Location: Juniper Springs is located at 26701 FL-40 in east Marion County in the heart of the Ocala National Forest.Ībout: With a picnic area, campground, trails, water wheel and millhouse constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Juniper Springs is among the oldest recreation areas on the East Coast, according to the Forest Service.Īll aboard!: Silver Springs State Park welcomes first wheelchair-accessible glass-bottom boatīig Pine Preserve: Land pocket inside Ocala National Forest approved for Florida Forever program The crystal-clear water percolating from the springs is the heart of the Juniper Springs Recreation Area, part of a surrounding wilderness preserve owned by the federal government that spans some 14,283 acres. Tucked away on the north side of State Road 40 about 30 miles east of Ocala, Juniper Springs is an inviting site to those looking for a way to beat the heat in relative seclusion. This habitat is a haven for animals, and in favorable conditions, the Joshua trees bloom with a soft white pineapple-shaped flower. Remaining stands are now threatened by solar energy. View Gallery: Fragile Springs: Juniper SpringsĪ little sign at the head of the path to the water says pretty much what one needs to know about what awaits: “Be lazy in Juniper Springs.” This rare Joshua tree-California Juniper habitat once covered much of the valley floor, but most was lost to the agricultural boom beginning in the late 1800s.