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Big Spring International Park (also known as Big Spring Park) is located in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. The park is built around its namesake "Big Spring", the original water source that the city of Huntsville was built around. The park is also notable as the venue for the Panoply Arts Festival, held the last full weekend in April, and the Big Spring Jam, an annual music festival held on the fourth weekend in September from 1993 to 2011.

The Big Spring

Big Spring Park is named after a large, underground karst spring, referred to by the indigenous Cherokee and Chickasaw as "the big spring". Hearing of the abundant water source and plentiful big game, John Hunt, Huntsville's founder, sought out the spring and settled near it in 1805 on the bluff above, which later became the site of the First National Bank of Huntsville. Isaac and Joseph Criner had previously reached the Big Spring and considered settlement, but due to the presence of bears and mosquitoes left to settle New Market instead. During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the spring was Huntsville's water source, due to its massive flow. The Big Spring is the largest limestone spring in North Alabama, with its usual flow between 7 and 20 million US gallons (76,000 m³) per day, depending on the time of the year.

Big Spring is one of the largest springs in the United States and the world. An enormous first magnitude spring, it rises at the base of a bluff on the west side of the Current River valley in the Missouri Ozarks. Located about four miles downstream from Van Buren, it is within the boundaries of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and its visitor facilities are managed by the National Park Service.

The average flow of 470 cubic feet (13,000 L) of water per second from Big Spring constitutes the second largest tributary of the Current River. The spring is by far the largest spring in the Ozark Plateau region. The only two springs in the Ozark region that approach the size of Big Spring are Greer Spring and Mammoth Spring. Maximum discharge of Big Spring must be estimated because backwater from the Current River makes accurate high water measurements impossible. The spring issues from the base of a limestone bluff, churning out aqua-blue water with great force, creating white caps, then quickly calming to a crystal clear channel. The spring water travels about 1,000 feet (300 m) where it adds itself to the Current River. The water is about 58 degrees Fahrenheit (13.3°C), and the spring is surrounded by a well maintained park and a steep valley hillside covered in hardwood forest. Most of the known drainage basin encompasses northern areas of the Eleven Point River watershed. Big Spring is ever increasing in size, as the groundwater continues to dissolve limestone in a vast karst system, and continuation of stream capture in greater quantities. The spring is estimated to dissolve and remove 175 tons of limestone during an average day. The amounts of limestone dissolved and removed by the spring system in one year is estimated to equal a one mile (1.6 km) long cave 30 feet (9.1 m) high 50 feet (15 m) wide, though that amount is dispersed among all parts of the karst system.