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Published: January 14th 2012
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Rainbow Springs swimming hole
The famous swimming hole in Rainbow Springs. Note the rocks visible through the incredibly clear water My goal for today was to do as little as possible in
Rainbow Springs.
Since I had laundry and other chores, I partially succeeded.
Rainbow Springs proper is a large spring whose flow becomes the Rainbow River.
It became the base of the
Rainbow Springs amusement park in the 1930s.
At its height, it had an “underwater ride” (actually a glass-bottomed boat tour) an exotic animal zoo, a canopy sky ride, and even a rodeo arena.
Unfortunately, it could not compete with a newer theme park based on a mouse (guess
which one) and closed in the late 1970s.
The land was abandoned for a decade before the state finally acquired it for the park.
The visitor’s center has a map of the former park, to compare it with the current setup.
All of the attractions are gone, but the layout still remains.
The most ridiculous has to be the hill.
The developers hauled buckets of earth and rocks from the river to create a large hill next to the springs.
They then built a water pump to the top of this hill and let the water flow down to create waterfalls.
The
Azeleas at Rainbow Springs
Azeleas along the garden trail at Rainbow Springs State Park, Florida pump still runs, and the three waterfalls are the only ones in this part of Florida (the state has only one
natural waterfall worthy of the name).
They fit the landscape surprisingly well.
The developers also covered the areas surrounding the paths with azaleas and magnolias.
These flowers
so typify the South in tourists’ minds that they used them here even though neither is native to Florida.
The flowers are still there, now surrounded by native plants.
My favorite part, however, was the spring boardwalk.
In the old days, the park had a bird aviary over a part of the springs.
The trail is still there, and now it overlooks the springs.
The water clearly bubbles out of the sandy bottom.
After the garden walk, it was time for the real reason people come here,
swimming in the springs.
An area next to what used to be the glass bottom boat dock has been cleared and marked for swimming.
The alligator warning next to the entrance is just a bit disturbing.
I’ve never swum in water this clear before.
Even in a pool, the chorine gives it a green tint (and hurts my
Artificial Waterfall at Rainbow Springs
A sight that could only be in Florida: one of three man-made waterfalls at Rainbow Springs State Park eyes).
This water was bluish white, from the sand at the bottom.
With my head out, everything in the area was clearly visible.
With a snorkel mask, the view was so clear the water basically disappears.
Without a mask underwater, everything became a fuzzy white glow, which I came to enjoy after a while.
Swimming in it was a special thrill, as the air bubbles from the swim strokes glowed from the sun.
I loved it.
I spent so much time in the spring I had a momentary adjustment to my full weight when I got out.
Unfortunately, I also got the Florida souvenir nobody wants, mild sunburn after my sunscreen wore off.
The final part of the day was another drive across the Florida peninsula.
The road passed through farm and ranch land over low rolling terrain.
It was fairly pretty.
I could almost imagine I was back in eastern Massachusetts, except for the Spanish moss hanging everywhere.
Later it passed though
Ocala National Forest.
The forest consisted almost entirely of second growth pine trees.
There was almost no underbrush, so the view stretched
Rainbow Springs
Water bubbles through the sandy bottom in part of Rainbow Springs quite a bit into the woods.
It would be a fun place to hike someday.
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