Rainbow Springs State Park
July 11th, 2008
Rainbow Springs State Park – Dunnellon, Florida
Yesterday for Earth Day we did what any Floridian family should have done and visited a Florida State Park for the day. This stop was at the beautiful Rainbow Springs State Park which is located in Dunellon, Florida. If you live in the surrounding areas and you've never been here, pack your bags, toss on some sun-tan lotion, and head out for a day at the head-spring. you'll be glad that you did! Apon arriving you will notice that you don't pay at the entrance of the park. Instead park your car and walk across the street to the right and head on in towards the visitor center where you will pay $1.00 per person to enjoy the amenities. Well worth it in our opinion.
The head-spring swimming area is great for older people who can swim well but be warned there are no shallow areas for the younger ones to play in. I'm 5 foot 8 inches and i could not touch the bottom anywhere except for near the edge. there are (or were when we were there) 2 large piles of rocks under water that the kids have built so that they could swim out to and stand on and take a breather before going back to playing with their friends. We did see a couple people with their dogs at the park so I would assume that pets are allowed so long as they remain on a leash at all times.
If you dont care for diving into cold spring water and you would rather enjoy the miles of nature trails, they have some as well. While I did not personally walk the nature trails I did however walk the paths back near the waterfalls and the butterfly garden. Do yourself a favor and make sure you bring your camera with you. The 4 waterfalls are absolutely beautiful and make for some great photo opportunities. Check out our gallery and see for yourself! Just make sure you wear shoes of some sort while walking the path to the waterfalls because they are cobblestone (i think?) paths and they will hurt your feet after walking on them for a few minutes. I really didn't have any problem with bugs or anything while walking around but then again, Pam is the one that gives you the low down on the creepy critters so we'll save that part of the article for her.
Rainbow Springs State Park also has a little bit of history behind it as one of the lost tourist attractions in Florida from the 1930's up until 1973 when when it was closed. There is still some remnants of the old animal cages that were built in 1968. The animal attraction is long gone but the cages are still there to mark a little piece of the history behind the park and the state that it was once in.
Pam's notes on creepy crawly things: Well I actually didn't get bit by much on this visit. One little bitty black bug bit me but to be honest it was just about a bug bite free day!!! My daughter Ali did notice on a bench a rather LARGE spider hiding for some unsuspecting rear end to sit down!! Glad it wasn't mine!! We all loved this park. Very pretty surroundings, lots of covered picnic area's. Lots of picnic tables. Large grassy area to play football or frisbee on. The people that did bring their dogs were all very courtious as far as we saw and the weather (of course) was awesome!! Do your family a favor and bring them here!!
For more photos from Rainbow Springs State Park, please visit the Rainbow Springs State Park Photo Gallery
Map of Rainbow Springs State Park
Activities available at Rainbow Springs State Park
Birding
Canoeing & Kayaking
Full Facility Camping
Nature Trails
Pet Camping
Pets
Picnicking
Snorkeling
Swimming
Tubing
Parks within 20 Miles of Rainbow Springs State Park
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