Crystal River Archaeological State Park
June 21st, 2008
Crystal River Archaeological State Park – Crystal River, Florida
Surrounded by the Crystal River Preserve State Park, is the beautiful Crystal River Archaeological State Park. 
This park offers some decent picnic areas as well as a little bit of Florida history. There's a lot of shaded concrete paths here that would make for a great walk or even grab your roller blades and skate around the park. I would imagine that the fishing here is pretty good along the sea wall as well.
This is one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Florida, 1,600 years, a pre-Columbian Ceremonial Complex with 6 burial mounds. The most impressive burial mound here is a temple/platform mound that is about 28 feet in excruciating height. I didn't count the number of stairs but i am quite sure there were a million, laugh-out-loud.
As far as the visitor center goes, we weren't able to get in. The park ranger had gone to lunch and locked her down. Now i don't know about this as i did not see any boats or even a dock for a boat to pull up to, but the park brochure says that the park offers boat rides on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This is not a large park but it would be a great place to get out on a sunday and go for walk or have a picnic with the family or friends.
We hope to stop by again and catch the visitor center open so that we can find out what information they have about the site and what kind of lectures or demonstrations they give because we did notice some theater seating while we were at the top of the "First Temple Mound" or "Mound A". The park is very informational in that there are little information boxes scattered around the park where you can push a button and hear a digital guide tell you about each site at the park. It was very interesting learning about the different mounds and things at the park and we're quite sure that you would enjoy the history lesson as well.
For more photos from Crystal River Archaeological State Park, please visit the Crystal River Archaeological State Park Photo Gallery
Map of Crystal River Archaeological State Park
Activities available at Crystal River Archaeological State Park
Birding
Boat Tours
Fishing
Interpretive Exhibit
Pets
Picnicking
Visitor Center
Parks within 20 Miles of Crystal River Archaeological State Park
- Crystal River Preserve State Park (4.19 miles)
- Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (10.95 miles)
- Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park (12.03 miles)
- Rainbow Springs State Park (14.05 miles)
- Waccasassa Bay State Park (16.66 miles)
The big attraction of Florida, too me, are the many state parks with something unique about each one. We live in a state filled with nature. Thanks for your post on Crystal River Archeological Park. I always like to read and learn more about our beautiful state.
Comment by Kenneth Fach — July 15, 2008 @ 9:53 AM