Volunteer receives award for 35,000 hours of service

 Don Philpott, President of the Wekiva Wilderness Trust (WWT), the volunteer, nonprofit organization that supports the   Wekiva River Basin State Parks, was awarded a certificate for completing 35,000 hours of volunteer service at a   ceremony at Wekiwa Springs State Park last Friday (13^th). He received his award from Park Manager Rene Acuna and   Park Service Specialist Emily Campbell.

 Don has been volunteering at the park for 30 years and has been on the WWT board for 20 years. He also serves on the   board of the Florida State Parks Foundation and was co-chair of the National Association of State Parks Federations. He   is a Florida Master Naturalist, Florida Master Gardener, and a Certified Interpretive Guide.

  For the last 15 years he has been researching the history of Wekiva Springs State Park and neighboring Rock Springs     Run State Reserve. This led to the discovery of two long forgotten ghost towns – Clay Springs in what is now Wekiwa   Springs, and Ethel at Rock Springs – now the subjects of two free eBooks published by the WWT and available for       download from their website at www.wwt-cso.com.

The history of Ethel will be celebrated at a free two-day Heritage Festival this weekend (March 21& 22, 10-4pm) at Rock Springs Run State Reserve. with guided tours, reenactors, arts and crafts and fun for all the family.

Wekiva WILDERNESS TRUST AWARDED $12,000 GRANT FROM THE REI COOPERATIVE ACTION FUND

We're thrilled to announce that the Wekiva Wilderness Trust (WWT) has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund to support our work in the Wekiva River Basin State Parks. The grant spread over the next two years will enable us to complete a number of much need projects in the parks, said WWT President Don Philpott. 

REI Co-op created the REI Cooperative Action Fund in October 2021. It is a community supported public charity that gives grants to support nonprofits doing the essential work in making the outdoors more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

The Fascinating History of Wekiwa Springs and Rock Springs – Read All About It

As volunteers with the Wekiva Wilderness Trust, we get asked lots of questions about the state park, and many people want to know more about the history of the springs. Over the last few months, we have done a lot of research and we now have a much better idea about the history of Wekiwa, and what a fascinating history it is. Until 1906, Wekiwa Springs was called Clay Springs and for several years it was a bustling township with its own school, railways station, steamboat jetty, and even a newspaper. A fifty-room, three-story hotel accommodated guests who came in by steamer to swim in the restorative waters of the springs. Wekiwa was also home to the first tourist attraction in Central Florida almost 100 years before Walt Disney World.

To download a free copy of our Wekiwa History Book, please click here.