Rainbow Springs State Park

There are several reasons why we come back to this wonderful state park, namely the water. In years past it has been warmer and we had been able to swim in the springs. Not so much this year. In saying that, there are other reasons. We are meeting friends from Ontario and Oklahoma. I realized I had never blogged about this park so here it goes.

Rainbow Springs State Park consists of three separate park entrances. The headwaters where the actual springs are located, the campground where we are, and the tubing entrance which is closed this time of the year. The headwaters are located about 3 miles north of Dunnellon, FL on US 41.

The headwaters

The campground is on the other side of the river about 10 miles by land from the headwaters and the tubing entrance is down river from the campground about 1 mile by water. This can be confusing to some.

Tubing park exit

The park consists of over 1,470 acres of land and opened as a state park in mid-1990's. Rainbow Springs is one of 33 Florida first-magnitude springs. What’s a first-magnitude spring? Well, springs are classified by the amount of water they discharge. Springs that discharge at least 2800 liters of water per second are the largest and considered first-magnitude. Rainbow Springs produces 600,000,000 US gallons of fresh water daily from several vents not just one. That’s a lot of water and quite a current when paddling against it. More on that later. The springs form the Rainbow River which flows into the Withlacoochee River.

Close by is the small town of Dunnellon which was founded in 1887. Phosphate was discovered in 1889 near the river. Using the natural flow of the river, phosphate was transported on the water to its destination.  As the attraction of the natural springs grew in the 1920's, the river was dredged for glass bottom boats, waterfalls were built on piles of phosphate tailings, and a zoo was added. However, by the mid-1970's tourists were lured away by larger theme parks and the park closed.

One of several waterfalls

Made from phosphate tailings

The river supports several types of wildlife and vegetation. There’s not a day that goes by I don’t hear the cry of a red-shouldered hawk or see a pair of eagles soaring overhead.

Sitting high in a tree above our site

There’s a 2-mile nature trail that takes you into the forest. Most of the wildlife however is on the river or in it.

Clumps of bamboo everywhere

A lone anhinga on the lookout

The river looks absolutely beautiful and it is. However, it is in trouble. The water now contains more than 100 times the natural level of nitrates. This is attributed to human activity, namely fertilizers, the farming of livestock, and human waste seeping through the soil ending up in the river. High nitrates leads to copious amounts of algae. In 2001 Florida developed a program to help protect and restore all of the state's springs.We all have to do our part.

I paddled this river several, it never got boring with the
beautiful green blue water

An Eastern Towhee one of several bird
species that resides in the park