Utilization of the River In years past the area that now comprises the Ichetucknee State Park was used by local residents for swimming, watering of livestock, and some adjacent areas were ruined to extract phosphate. Mill Pond Spring at one time had a grist mill operating near the log dam just below the spring. Mission Springs is said to have derived its name from an old Spanish mission located nearby. Today the river from Ichetucknee Spring to U.S. Hwy 27 is well known to Florida residents and eco-tourists as a "tubers paradise." Tubes, rafts, canoes, and small boats put in at the head spring and float leisurely down the run with swimmers, snorkelers, and scuba divers stopping off at the springs along the way to investigate the secrets of the "mystic" waters. Tubers' Paradise Over the years since the Indians roamed these lands, the name Ichetucknee took on different spellings and different meanings. The springs apparently got their name from a Seminole Indian town at the mouth of the Ichetucknee River. Most definitions of the meaning of the name refer to a "ponding of water" with reference to beavers that inhabit the river. Dock at northern launch point Information obtained from The Florida Geological Survey.