Blue Springs State Park

The other reviewer, Jennifer, does a great job describing the nuts and bolts. It’s been a couple of years since I visited Blue Springs State Park, but parks don’t tend to change that much.
Blue Springs features a small freshwater spring with a semicircular wall/​steps around it which allows for easy access if you plan to be swimming. We didn’t swim during my visit, but that’s the main thing to do here. Blue Springs serves an important purpose for the locals — there aren’t a ton of public bodies of water one has access to this deep in the sticks (and this is pretty deep down the two-​lane country roads for a lot of folks!) so this is a beloved spot to take a COLD (spring water, remember) dip on a hot Alabama summer day.
Affordable, and probably the prime public attraction in Blue Springs, Alabama. If you are in the area, this is a nice change of pace, and a pretty little park to stroll around, but don’t expect a lot hiking, biking, or anything like that. Just swim and enjoy it, or come out for a nice picnic!

All in all we had a really nice day here. The place was overrun with screaming children and teenagers, but in all fairness this is probably the most refreshing place within two hours and is also a park.
I’ve only ever been to hot springs before — never cold. So this was a brand new experience! Here is the basic run down — entrance was $ 3 a person (i think $ 1 for children?). They have great picnic areas — plenty of picnic tables with grills. Also available were a few big pavillion areas that appeared to have parties going on. Volleyball nets and a fishing lake were other attractions.
The spring itself was very cool — it pumps 3600 gallons per minute! And flows through two pools and into the river. The water was so cold and refreshing — I think I read that the temp is 60 degrees year round. When all the kids cleared out the area was really very relaxing.
I’d reccomend coming here for a day if you are looking for somewhere to go on a weekend, but it wasn’t great enough to reroute your trip if you are just passing through.