He established the first plantation, calling it "Spring Garden," where corn, cotton, and sugar cane were grown, using enslaved Africans to perform the work.

The Woodruffs owned the plantation from 1823 to 1830, selling it to Colonel Orlando Rees, who built the only water-powered sugar mill in Florida.

The area attracted tourists in the 1880s after the railroad arrived, when it was advertised as a winter resort for the springs' alleged healing powers; it was called the Fountain of Youth.

In 1925, the fourteen-room Ponce de Leon Hotel was constructed; this was the first resort with all the amenities, attracting more upscale northern clientele.

It featured Exotic Birds, Alligator Pens, Audubon Trail, Jungle Cruise, Hotel and Peacock Dining Room, Old Methuselah cypress tree, SCUBA School and Museum, and two waterskiing elephants—Sunshine Sally and Queenie!

The four-mile Wild Persimmon Hiking Trail meanders through hardwood hammock, cypress swamp and old agricultural fields.

The one-half mile paved nature trail is wheelchair accessible; it has interpretive signs and a boardwalk to a 600-year-old bald cypress tree.

Guided eco-history tours are offered by boat from the park to the adjacent Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.

The Old Spanish Sugar Mill restaurant specializes in pancakes, which guests prepare on individual griddles at their tables.