Apopka Blue Hole..west of rock springs

[tekno]

fyi...for the central florida cavers
buddy called this morning to inform me that a developer has filled in the sink hole with concrete and gravel
evidently he plans on placing houses over the fill site...LOL

 

[scubafool]

Not to say that this flat out hasn't happened, but considering that the land at least was owned by a local government, and considering that the Cambrian Foundation has done some diving there, & would be likely to raise unholy H E double hockeysticks about such an action, it seems as though this would be a major battle cry for the cave diving community here in FL. Just take one look at the discussion on the Cave Diver's Forum about a WalMart SuperCenter over a section of cave in Alachua County. http://cavediver.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2743&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I will dig around myself, but do you have any corroborrating info about this?

 

[simbrooks]

I thought they werent letting people use this as its attached to the lake which is polluted with something? Also that there was a grate over the cave entrance? Its been a while since i heard the name for sure though.

 

[scubafool]

No, the cave system/spring attached to Lake Apopka is known by a few different names, but the most common seems to be Gourd Neck. Gourd Neck is actually a spring, whereas Apopka Blue is, I believe, an offset sink, much like Catfish Hotel at Manatee Springs. I don't think there is a grate at either of these locations, but I know that there is a grate over the cave entrance at Rock Springs. IIRC, Apopka Blue Sink has been dye traced & connects with Rock Springs.

http://www.cambrianfoundation.org/p...5&projectName=Central Florida Springs Project has a lot of good reading & info on karst windows in the Orlando area, just go through all of the various projects.

 

[simbrooks]

I stand corrected, knew i'd heard the name before though. In that case i agree its in the middle of a state park with a popular swimming hole for the visitors. I know they want to push the 429 loop back over to I-4/Sanford somewhere up there, but i cant see them allowing development right on the banks of that spring.

 

[Tegg]

Alot of people seem to not really know where Apopka Blue is located.

I went there on Saturday and there was fresh repairs on the gates. There are also locks.

I saw the water in the sink at that point.

There were dye traces that showed it was a connection to Rock Springs. Being that there was an upstream and downstream on this sink, I would only hope that it was not filled in as it will have a direct effect on Rock Springs and that would definately cause alarm with SJWMD. You piss off any WMD and you will get no permits, ever. It is also a 1st degree felony to deface a cave in Florida...

What/Who was your source for this information and when did they hear it was filled in?

I will personally take a look up there Friday and see if this is true.

 

[tekno]

apopka blue is an inline flowing sink and does does flow into rock spngs (about 2 miles east of sink location) dye tests several years ago proved such.
when i was a kid growing up in orlando the burkhalters owned the sink and property surrounding abh. the st john's water district bot the grounds in the 90's and according to my friend a real estate developer now controls/owns the land.
teggs could u take a picture of the water in the sink...if this proves to be false. (and i hope it is)
curious how she looks? how far down to the water? etc

 

[tekno]

just called my buddy who said he went by area two weeks ago.
the woods and adjoining land was cleared by a home builder. a worker on the property told him no one would ever dive that hole again since it was blocked off permanately.

 

[tekno]

No, the cave system/spring attached to Lake Apopka is known by a few different names, but the most common seems to be Gourd Neck. Gourd Neck is actually a spring, whereas Apopka Blue is, I believe, an offset sink, much like Catfish Hotel at Manatee Springs. I don't think there is a grate at either of these locations, but I know that there is a grate over the cave entrance at Rock Springs. IIRC, Apopka Blue Sink has been dye traced & connects with Rock Springs.

http://www.cambrianfoundation.org/p...5&projectName=Central Florida Springs Project has a lot of good reading & info on karst windows in the Orlando area, just go through all of the various projects.

read the deleon springs article.....dove there in early 70's with a local fellow named lucky mc gee. he had a good relationship with the couple who owned the place at the time.
the grate at 60 feet was there back then....heard that it was VERY DANGEROUS to go much further since u would encounter a high flow underground river.
lucky if still alive lives in deleon springs and has a bunch of artifacts from many florida spring/sink sites.

 

[Tegg]

apopka blue is an inline flowing sink and does does flow into rock spngs (about 2 miles east of sink location) dye tests several years ago proved such.
when i was a kid growing up in orlando the burkhalters owned the sink and property surrounding abh. the st john's water district bot the grounds in the 90's and according to my friend a real estate developer now controls/owns the land.
teggs could u take a picture of the water in the sink...if this proves to be false. (and i hope it is)
curious how she looks? how far down to the water? etc

Here is the information according to the Orange County Property Appraiser's office for Apopka Blue.

PARCEL ID: 16-20-28-0000-00-006
STREET ADDRESS: 4600 ANTON AVE
OWNER NAME(S): CITY OF APOPKA
MAILING ADDRESS: PO BOX 1229
ADDRESS2:
ADDRESS3:
CITY,STATE, ZIP: APOPKA, FL. 32704


So, unless a developer has purchased this known protected cave system from the city of Apopka for development (something which I seriously doubt) then the cave is still fine.

Access may be limited, but that is nothing new. It has been limited for quite some time.

Thus I assume your friend is incorrect about the sink being filled in.