You guys, I know I said this last month when I was talking about Rainbow Springs, but I think I now have a new favorite spring (or at least a Top 3)! Kelly Park is home to Rock Spring (so it’s often referred to as Kelly Park/Rock Springs), located in Apopka (try saying that three times fast), a mere 30-40 minutes north of downtown Orlando.
So if you’re in the Orlando area and looking for something more nature-centered to do than theme parks or live in Orlando and looking to escape the hot city concrete to cool off in nature, you have to check out this unique park!
Yāall, we camped for three nights at this little park and it is stunningly gorgeous. Whether youāre in the area as a tourist or have lived in Orlando all your life, you have to check out this gem!
Have I talked to you into it yet? If so, read on to make the most of your visit!
1. HISTORY
Kelly Park is a 255-acre park donated by Dr. Howard A. Kelly in 1927 for use as a public park, wildlife preserve, and bird sanctuary. Today the park is owned and operated by Orange County Parks. Kelly Park is NOT a Florida State Park.
2. ROCK SPRINGS
Kelly Park is home to Rock Springs, a natural free-flowing spring, that begins the Rock Springs Run which travels nine miles before flowing into the Wekiva River. Rock Springs produces 26,000 gallons of water per minute and is a constant 68 degrees year-round. The current and cool temps make it a perfect destination for swimming or tubing on a hot summer (or fall, or spring) day!
To get to the spring, it’s a short walk from the parking area and then down a set of stairs. No long hikes here to get to this beauty! You can’t swim in the spring area itself (pictured above) but you can swim and put in tubes just a few yards downstream. And yes, the caves seen in the picture are barred off so you can’t go exploring!
3. PARK INFORMATION
Address:
400 E Kelly Park Road
Apopka, FL 32712
Just a note: I used the āMapsā App on the iPhone for navigation and while it got us close, it did not navigate us to the entrance to the park. Google Maps does a much better job getting you to the actual entrance to the park. š
Hours of Operation:
During the Summer (while we’re on Daylight Savings Time) the park is open 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
During Winter (once we’re off Daylight Savings Time), the park has shorter hours of 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Keep in mind the waterfront and hiking trails close one hour before the park closing.
Admission:
Admission to Kelly Park is quite reasonable at $3 per vehicle for 1-2 people; $5 per vehicle for 3-8 people; and $1 for additional person/walk-ins/motorcycles/bikes.
Restrictions:
Kelly Park does NOT allow:
- pets,
- alcohol,
- diving,
- scuba diving, or
- floats over five feet in width or length.
4. GETTING INTO THE PARK
Folks, if thereās one thing you need to know about this park (aside from its beauty) it is that in the summer it is BUSY!
The park opens at 8 a.m. and limits capacity to 330 vehicles. In the summer months, the park can quickly fill up by mid-morning, necessitating guests being turned away at the entry.
If you want to go on a summer weekend, plan to be in line EARLY. Once the park reaches capacity, 50 vehicles are granted afternoon parking passes which allow those vehicles to return at 2 p.m. Only one pass is given per car and passes are granted on a first come, first served basis.
Once the park reaches capacity, the websiteĀ is updated to indicate the park has reached capacity. Kelly Park also has a hotline to call that is also updated when the park is at capacity: 407-254- 1906.
Our advice: get in line early, or go in the off-season. We were there in November and it was still plenty warm to swim or tube – but without the crowds.
5. PICNIC AREA
Kelly Park offers a large picnic area with picnic tables, covered pavilions, and grills. The park also offers a full-service concession stand, bathrooms with showers, and a good-sized playground.
The park allows shade tents up to 10×10 in the picnic areas, but not in the waterfront areas.
6. SWIMMING
After a short run downstream from Rock Spring, the Rock Springs Run opens up into a large, relatively shallow, crystal-clear swimming area.
While most of the banks are concrete walls with stairs or ladders allowing exit from the water, there is a sandy beach area great for kiddos to play or for sunbathing.
7. TUBING
If you’re looking for a comfortable relaxing tubing trip, you’ve hit the jackpot with Kelly Park! Tubing the Rock Springs Run is by far the most popular reason to visit the park! And it’s so easy!
Simply take the short walk to Rock Springs, get in your tube, and sit back and relax as the current takes you the Ā¾ of a mile down the Rock Springs Run. You’ll first pass under a bridge, go a short distance to the swimming area where the run briefly opens up into a wider area before narrowing again past the swimming area. The tubing trip takes approximately 25-30 minutes, at which point you exit and walk your tube back to where you started (an approximately 10-minute walk)!
While Kelly Park does not offer tube rentals you can bring your own (tubes likeĀ thisĀ orĀ thisĀ are pretty standard and affordable), or rent tubes from vendors outside the park (like Rock Springs Bar and Grill). You can also bring pool noodles or floats, but all must be less than 5 feet in length or width.
Keep in mind that the swimming area will close if a storm nearby is producing lightning.
Other things to bring while tubing:
Ā
8. CANOE/KAYAK
While Kelly Park does not offer canoe or kayak rentals or a launch area, its adjacent park, Camp Joy offers a launch area into the Rock Springs Run if you have your own vessels. The launch fees are $3 for 1-2 people; $5 for 3-8 people; and $1 for additional person. You must fill out the Kayak/Canoe Launch FormĀ and take it to the Kelly Park Office. However Camp Joy does not offer a shuttle service, so if you paddle downstream, be prepared to paddle back upstream.
If you are looking to rent canoes, kayaks, or paddleboards, visit Wekiwa Spring State ParkĀ (here is the state park’s canoe/kayak rental company), Wekiva Island, or Kings Landing.
Kings Landing is less than a mile from the Kelly Park entrance and offers rentals as well as a shuttle service to bring you back to your vehicle after you have paddled the Rock Springs Run. You can also launch your own vessels at Kings Landing for a fee, as well as employ the Kings Landing shuttle service to transport your party and your vessels back to the launch.
The trip is 8.5 miles and typically takes about 4.5 hours to complete. You must plan to be on the water by 11 a.m. so you are off the water in time to catch the last shuttle at 4 p.m.
9. HIKING
Kelly Park offers nearly seven miles of trails within the park, including the 1.5 mile Kelly Loop Trail.
10. CAMPING
During our three-night stay at Kelly Park, we loved the campground! We were in site 14, near the back of the campground. It was quite a large site and offered plenty of space for our giant tent and room for the kids to run around.
There are 26 RV/tent sites, each with a picnic table, fire ring (with grill!), water spigot, and electric box! This was super fancy for us as we’re not used to camping with electricity!
The bathhouse is centrally located in the campground loop and offers not only clean restrooms, but hot showers (a big bonus for me). It is far enough from most sites so you don’t have the constant flow of traffic, but also close enough that we could let the kids walk up by themselves.
Kelly Park also has two group campsites. These group sites have a separate entrance, but there is a walking trail connecting the two areas. Our site sort of backed up to the group campsites which was only a problem when the groups were congregated around their firepit – and then it got loud – but nothing that was too intrusive.
From November until March, the park even offers fun family activities on the weekends, including Campfire & a Movie on Friday nights, and a morning nature walk and afternoon tour on Saturdays. These are only available to registered campers!
The park does not permit the gathering of firewood, but we were able to purchase a decent stack of oak for $10 at Rock Springs Bar and Grill (the same place that has tube rentals) just down the road.
One of the bummers that I hope they will eventually fix, is that Kelly Park doesn’t offer online reservations for campsites. So you have no way to check availability outside of regular office hours. To check availability or book a site, you have to email kellycamping@ocfl.net or call 407-254-1902 up to 45 days in advance of your trip. On the more positive side, because sites are only booked 45 days in advance, you can sometimes get a camping spot here a month in advance when all the nearby State Parks are well booked up months in advance. Your camping fees do include admission to Kelly Park and dumping fees.
Keep in mind that the campground does NOT allow pets.
10.5 SPEED LIMIT
I have no idea why, but I found it both intriguing and comical, that the speed limit at Kelly Park is 12.5 miles per hours. If you happen to know why, please let me know, as I’m sufficiently intrigued. š
Have you been to Kelly Park? Was it crowded or busy? We loved our extended weekend camping at this park and can’t wait to go back again!
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