Say “the springs” in Hernando County and everyone assumes you mean the mermaid show. That’s fair — it’s the one with a state park entrance fee and a gift shop. It’s also not the only one, and it’s not always the right call.
If you want the show: Weeki Wachee Springs
Weeki Wachee Springs State Park has been running the same underwater mermaid performance since 1947. It’s a genuine state park — paid admission, a real attraction built around the spring, a water park attached. This is the one to pick if you want an actual day out with a program to follow, and it’s the one everyone already knows about, for good reason.
If you want it quiet and free: Jenkins Creek Park
Jenkins Creek Park is three acres in Hernando Beach — natural freshwater springs feeding into man-made canals and marsh, with a boat launch for small boats and canoes, a fishing pier, grills and picnic tables. No admission fee, no show, no gift shop. The park is known for manatee sightings, which is the sort of thing that happens when a spot stays quiet rather than gets developed.
Across the street, connected by a boardwalk, is Linda Pedersen Park — 135 acres with a forty-foot observation tower looking out over the marsh and the Gulf, plus a playground, a swimming area, and a pavilion. Between the two, it’s a genuinely different kind of afternoon than Weeki Wachee: bring your own kayak or fishing rod, watch for manatees, climb the tower, and don’t pay anything to do it.
Picking between them
Weeki Wachee is the pick for a first-time visitor, a birthday, a rainy-day-adjacent plan where you want something built and staffed. Jenkins Creek and Linda Pedersen are the pick if you already know the county, already have gear, and want the version with nobody else around — or if the state park’s admission price is the thing standing between you and getting outside today.
They’re not really competing for the same visit. One is a destination; the other is what residents use when they just want to be near water for an hour.
Good to know
Jenkins Creek Park sits in Hernando Beach; Linda Pedersen Park is directly across the street, joined by a boardwalk. Neither charges admission. For the paddling route out of Weeki Wachee instead, there’s the river guide.
Photo: DanTD, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.