Suwannee County Parks: Free Entry at Royal and Little River Springs for Service Members and Veterans

Section 125.029 requires a county park department to give a partial or full discount on park entrance fees to service members, honorably discharged veterans and listed survivors; see the Florida entry. Suwannee County gives the full fee. The fees. Resolution 2025-37, adopted July 15, 2025, set the county's first entrance fees: Billy Jernigan Pool, $3.00 a person; Royal Springs, "$5.00 per car (covers all occupants) / $5.00 per person walking in", except for holders of a neighbourhood pass; and Little River Springs, $5.00 a car or $5.00 a person walking in. Both springs are open year-round, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from April to October and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November to March. The waiver. On March 3, 2026 the Board adopted Resolution 2026-23, "recognizing the statutory discount or waiver of entrance": "Any park or recreational facility which assesses any entrance fee in Suwannee County shall waive the entrance fee if any occupants of the vehicle seeking entry are" a current member of the Armed Forces, a reserve component or the National Guard; an honorably discharged veteran of any of them, with or without a VA service-connected disability; the surviving spouse or parents of a member who died in the line of duty under combat-related conditions; or the surviving spouse or parents of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, EMT or paramedic who died in the line of duty. One qualifying passenger frees the whole car. How it compares. The statute lets a county stop at a partial discount and excludes "aquatic facilities" and "boat launching" from the fees it covers; the resolution waives in full and reaches "any park or recreational facility which assesses any entrance fee", which by its words includes the pool's per-person fee. Like the statute, it names honorable discharges only. In practice. The Parks and Recreation pages still print the $5 per vehicle fee for both springs with no mention of the waiver, and neither resolution says what proof the gate takes, so bring proof of service or of the survivor's status (a DD-214, a military ID, a Veteran ID Card or a driver licence with the veteran designation) and ask for the waiver. Questions: Suwannee Parks & Recreation, 1201 Silas Drive, Live Oak, (386) 362-3004.