Stay for the Hurricane, Evacuate for the Power Outage

We all know people in Florida are crazy. After all, Florida has alligators, several varieties of poisonous snakes, fire ants, sinkholes, sharks, tourists, heat, humidity, and . . . hurricanes, and yet we still make our homes here.

Living in Florida you have to be a certain amount of tough – and a certain amount of crazy.

So when our area was forecast to be hit by an increasingly strengthening Hurricane Michael, we, of course, decided to hunker down and wait it out at home.

 

As it turns out, we were some of the incredibly lucky ones. While our neighbors not even an hour south and to the west were utterly decimated, with entire towns and communities destroyed, we suffered only minimal damage and the predictable power outage.

 

We lost power on Wednesday during the storm, spent Thursday cleaning up debris, and left town on Friday. Yes, in Florida we stay for the hurricane and evacuate for the power outage.

“In Florida we stay for the hurricane and evacuate for the power outage.”

Rainbow Springs State Park

Rainbow Springs has been on our “Florida Bucket List” for quite some time but there is too much to do for a day trip, and we’ve rarely seen campsites available (you can reserve campsites up to 11 months in advance here – sites do fill up fast, especially on the weekends).

It turns out that Rainbow Springs State Park had to close their park briefly due to the hurricane – even that far south and east they felt the outer bands of the hurricane – so when a few people canceled their trips, we were able to grab a last minute spot!

So we loaded up the camping supplies, kiddo kayaks, canoe, tubes, all the salvageable food from the fridge and freezer, and our family plus Mimi (my mom) into two cars and headed south! Mimi was also without power and food – so we convinced her that camping outside with food and access to hot water in the bathhouse was better than no food or power inside. 🙂

We got down the to State Park on Friday afternoon ready to set up camp.

The first thing that we learned was that Rainbow Springs State Park has three entrances. So if you’re making the trip, make sure your GPS is taking you to the correct location – ours was taking us to the main entrance, so we had to reroute to the campground entrance.

“Rainbow Springs State Park has three entrances: the headsprings entrance, the camping entrance, and the tubing entrance.”

There are three entrances to Rainbow Springs State Park:

1. The main entrance with the headsprings is located on the west side of the river at 19158 SW 81st Place Rd., Dunnellon, FL 34432.

At the main entrance, you can visit Rainbow Springs, the headsprings to the Rainbow River. Here you can swim or snorkel in the large swimming area near Rainbow Springs or launch a canoe/kayak (either yours or a rental). The main entrance also has a gift shop, concession stand, nature trails (including a walk through the relics of the “Old Florida” tourist attraction), pavilions, and lots of open space for picnics or lounging.

2. The camping entrance is located on the east side of the river at 18185 S.W. 94th Street, Dunnellon, FL 34432.

The camping entrance is only accessible to registered campers with a gate code. In addition to the campground, campers have access to the river for tubing and paddling, a small swimming area in the river, a playground, nature trail, and pavilion.

3. The tubing entrance is located just down the road from the camping entrance at  10830 SW 180th Avenue, Dunnellon, FL 34432.

If you plan to rent tubes from the State Park, you will need to enter at the tubing entrance. After parking your vehicle and renting your tubes, a tram will take you to the campground river access and you will float back to your vehicle at this entrance.

Rainbow Springs Campground

When we arrived at the camping entrance, there was a gate requiring an entry code. Simply call the phone number listed on the sign (or call on your drive to the campground) and the Park Ranger will give you the gate code.

After entering the code, we proceeded to the Ranger Station for a quick and easy check-in. The Ranger Station also sells firewood for a donation (keep in mind the collection of firewood on state property is prohibited, so if you plan to have a fire get your wood here) and has a small gift shop where you can purchase souvenirs, supplies, or rent canoes or kayaks.

 

The campground has 60 sites, all with water, sewer, and electricity, as well as seven hike-in tent sites.  There are three campsite loops – A, B, and C – each offering (gloriously hot) showers and laundry facilities. Campsites on Loops B and C are roomy and relatively secluded with vegetation between the sites. Loop A is less secluded and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend sites in this area.

“Campsites are large, with good privacy, but bring shade if it’s going to be hot!”

Keep in mind that while the sites in Loops B & C are secluded, most of the vegetation is saw palmetto and brush, and does not offer a lot of shade. You can see in the picture above that we set up our tents and picnic table in the only areas of shade on our large site. These gravel sites can get quite hot (we were there in October), so if you can, I’d pack a sunshade tent, especially in the summer.

Rainbow Springs Main Entrance – Headsprings

After setting up camp and cooking a hearty lunch (trying to use up all the salvageable food from our freezer at home), we drove about 7 miles over to the main entrance to the park. While the park is large, the three entrance areas do not connect so to get from one area of the park to another, you need to drive.

At the main entrance, you park on the left and take the walking path on the right up to the entrance booth. Unlike most state parks where the cost is per car, here you walk to the entrance booth and the cost is $2 per person (children under 6 are free). But of course, we have our Florida State Parks Pass so we got everyone in free (saved us $10!) – up to 8 people.

After going through the entry area, you can access the walking trails to the left, or the swimming area/headspring to the right. Anxious to see the gorgeous water, we went right and as soon as we saw the springs area, we couldn’t stop taking photos.

Swimming Area

The water is beyond words – or even pictures.

I’ve grown up around clear Florida springs and their rivers, so clear water is nothing new or unique to me, but this water blew me away. The clarity and the hues of the water are just fascinating.

“While the water is beyond gorgeous, it is quite cool (make that COLD) at a year-round 72 degrees!”

Even though it was October, it was hot, so the kiddos couldn’t wait to jump into the water. However, keep in mind that the water is a cool (make that COLD) 72 degrees year-round, with the depths of the swimming area ranging from 5 to 18 feet. This is well above most kiddos’ heads even in the “shallower” area, so if the kiddos are going to be doing extended swimming (rather than just jumping off the dock and swimming back to the ladder), I’d suggest life jackets.

Tubes, rafts, and balls are not allowed in the swimming area, but you may use pool noodles and/or life jackets.

 

Snorkeling is also allowed in the State Park – but only in the swimming area. You can snorkel from boats outside of the state park, but Florida law does require dive flags for all snorkelers.

Canoe, Kayak, and SUP Launch

While kiddos swam for a bit, I took the short walk to check out the canoe/kayak launch/rental. I couldn’t even stop taking pictures on this short walk – the clarity of the water was just overwhelming!

 

You can rent canoes, kayaks, or SUPs from the State Park vendor from here by the hour or for the day. Once you have your vessels, you can paddle around the spring and down the river and return the vessel to the rental (if you go downstream, just make sure you’re okay going just as far upstream).

You can also launch your own vessels here, but be prepared to carry them 1800 feet from the parking lot to the launch, as there is no vehicle access to the river within the park.

If you’d prefer, you can paddle upstream (from the campground or other launches) and dock your boat at the rental area. If you are not already camping at the State Park, you just pay your $2 entry fee at the dock.

Hiking

After swimming around a bit, we took to the nature trails. But these are no ordinary nature trails! The nature trails at Rainbow Springs State Park take you back in time when “Old Florida” theme park attractions ruled the tourism industry of the state. The ruins are not only fascinating but also a bit eerie – you can almost picture what it would have been like “back in the day.”

While there is evidence that people have inhabited the area around Rainbow Springs area for at least 10,000 years, Rainbow Springs and the Rainbow River became popular in the 1880s when phosphate was discovered in the area. In the 1930s the Rainbow Springs area was opened as a privately owned theme park. During that time the owners developed the sea walls, lodge, gift shop, the waterfalls (built on top of phosphate tailings), and a reptile exhibit.

Rainbow Springs hit its heyday as a tourist attraction in the 1960s with the addition of glass-bottomed boat rides, riverboat rides, log raft rides, a cafe, an aviary, a monorail with leaf-shaped gondolas, a horse rodeo, and submarine boat tours (which included stairs that went below the waterline and visitors could look out at eye level).

But as history will have it, the attraction closed in 1974 when traffic began using I-75 instead of US Hwy 41 and tourists headed to Walt Disney World (which opened in 1971) rather than the “Old Florida” attractions. While some of these “Old Florida” type attractions can still be found in the glass bottom boats at Silver Springs State Park and the popular mermaid shows at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, most have gone the way of the old Rainbow Springs attractions.

Thankfully for Rainbow Springs, the State purchased the land in 1990, and with the help of volunteers was able to open it as a state park in 1995.

If you’re interested in seeing some amazing photos of the “Old Florida” Rainbow Springs tourist attraction, check out the slideshow by Florida Hikes – it’s fascinating!

Today’s nature trails take you past three of the man-made waterfalls, all gorgeous but even more interesting when you know the history of their development. Continuing past the waterfalls you walk through the remnants of the zoo and rodeo and can imagine what the place must have been like in its heyday. It was almost eerie to see the ruins but definitely cool. Reminds you that Florida was so very different back before Disney came around.

After touring the grounds, it was back to camp for dinner and a fire. The temperatures cooled off quickly and after our first hot showers in days, the fire was cathartic as we roasted marshmallows. After sleeping with the sounds of the neighbors’ generators humming all night, it was peaceful to sleep to the more tolerable and lovely sounds of crickets and other night creatures.

Canoeing/Kayaking from Rainbow Springs Campground

Saturday it was up and time to make another hot meal (gotta use up all that breakfast sausage and eggs so they don’t go to waste!) and time to hit the river!

From the campground, we drove down to the tram drop-off for tubes and unloaded the kiddo kayaks, canoe, and all our gear (click here to check out the gear we use when paddling).  We then drove the vehicle back up the Ranger Station (there is no parking available at the tram drop-off) and walked the short walk back down to the drop-off.

From the drop-off area, it’s a short 1/10 mile walk down the to the river (carrying your boats and gear). Down at the river there is a small swimming area, along with some picnic tables and the boat launch. We threw the boats in the water and headed upstream.

If you don’t have your own canoes or kayaks, you can rent them from the Ranger Station at the campground (if you’re a registered camper) or from a private vendor and launch at K.P. Hole, a Marion County Park (which allegedly gets very busy in the summer with tube and canoe rentals).

 

Rainbow Springs (the headspring, which is actually several vents rather than one large spring) is a first magnitude spring (the 4th largest in Florida), pumping out approximately 400 million gallons of beautiful spring water a day.  Which means a good bit of water is coming from the spring vents and coursing down the Rainbow River (which runs 5.7 miles until it merges with the Withlacoochee River downstream). While this makes for a great tubing trip downstream, it means that paddling upstream is a bit more difficult.

While I wouldn’t say it was strenuous or especially tricky, paddling upstream also wasn’t like paddling on a lake. We had the 7-year-old and 9-year-old both in their kiddo kayaks and while the oldest made it all the way to the headspring, we ended up towing the younger behind the canoe.

I will add, however, that the Park Rangers estimated it would take 1.5 hours to paddle the approximate 1.3 miles to the headspring, but we made it in less than an hour so that may have had something to do with the younger kiddo’s fatigue. Had we slowed down and taken a more leisurely paddle, he might have been more inclined to make the entire trek. So let that be a lesson to us all – slow down and enjoy the scenery!

 

Again, I cannot adequately express the beauty of this river. As I said, I’ve been around crystal clear springs my whole life and nothing I’ve seen is like this river. A Park Ranger informed us that the depths on the river ranged from 5 to 30 feet and I kid you not when I swear you could see all the way to the bottom at depths of 30 feet. It’s not a shallow river but you can see down like it’s right below the surface.

 

And it’s not just the clarity but the colors that are just out of this world. I could go on and on but the pictures will have to do it some justice. But you have to see it to appreciate it.

Along the paddle upstream, the State Park owns all the land on the right side of the river in its natural, pristine state. Several places look like people use them as pull-off spots or places where people have tied up rope swings, but in some locations, signs ask that you not disturb the natural habitat of the riverbanks. The left side, heading upstream, is mostly developed, with moderate sized houses with cute yards and docks.

 

Even for a Saturday in October, well past the “busy” season, there were still a good number of vessels on the river – mostly canoes and kayaks, but also some pontoon boats and water taxis. But all were respectful of the smaller crafts and abided by the low wake area.

 

You know you’re getting close to the headspring when all the houses stop, both banks become “wild,” and you’ll see a sign for the state park with its regulations and rules.

After entering the State Park area, it’s a very short paddle upstream to the canoe launch/dock on the left.

If you are not a registered camper, you will need to pay the $2 per person entrance fee at the boat dock, but since we were campers (and also State Park pass holders), that wasn’t necessary.

 

We spent our time at the headspring doing some more swimming before taking the incredibly smooth, relaxing, and quick paddle back downstream to the campground boat launch area.

 

We ate lunch, hung around camp, decided it was too late for tubing (clearly, I need to work on not planning so much into one day), so drove back up to the headspring with Mimi. We showed her where we’d landed, did some more swimming, and tried to take another walk but every time we got to the first waterfall another kid had to use the potty so we scrapped the walk, played in the grass and finally headed back to camp.

Another delicious camp meal of chicken and pineapple meatballs with roasted mushrooms, peppers, and onions, with some frozen veggies to supplement for the kids since they don’t love the mushrooms, peppers, and onions.

Tubing the Rainbow River

Sunday we knew we had to be back on the road (the School Superintendent swore we were all back to school on Monday even though at the time our school still didn’t have power – nor did we), so we packed up camp early to get on the river.

Tubing on the river is a bit confusing for a first-timer – or at least was for me since I didn’t have access to the internet before we left to investigate. So here are a few things to keep in mind when tubing the Rainbow River . . .

You cannot tube from the headspring.

While you can launch your own canoes or kayaks from the headspring/main entrance, or rent canoes/kayaks there, you cannot launch your tubes from the main entrance to the State Park. In fact, tubes and other inflatables are not allowed in the headsprings area.

You can rent tubes from the Tubing Entrance to the State Park.

If you would like to rent tubes from the State Park (or use their tram with your own tubes), head to the Tubing Entrance of the State Park (10830 SW 180th Avenue, Dunnellon, FL 34432). Here you will need to pay the $2 per person admission fee for the State Park, as well as $20 per person for tube rental and tram ride. Even if you bring your own tubes, you still have to pay the $20 for the tram.

When you are paying for your rental and tram, you will also need to sign a waiver. The State Park requires that all visitors wear a life jacket and kiddos ages 5 and 6 must have them buckled at all times. The State Park DOES NOT ALLOW CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OLD ON THE RIVER.

Keep in mind that the Tubing Entrance is closed from November to March, but we found great tubing weather well into October without the crowds!

Once you’ve rented your tubes, paid for the tram, and gathered your life jacket, the tram will transport you to the launch at the Campground Entrance. You are dropped off at the Tram Drop-Off area and walk 1/1o of a mile to the river access, where you plop in your tubes and float downriver.

After floating for about 1.5-2 hours, you will see the State Park Tubing Exit on your left. Steer your tube to the exit and an attendant will help you exit the river.

From the exit, there is a short (but lovely) boardwalk back to a tram pick-up. You can either wait there for a tram or make the quick walk back to the parking lot yourself. There you will find your vehicle that you parked earlier in the day! There are restrooms and showers to change clothes and your trip is done (unless you want to go again!).

As a registered camper, you can launch your own tubes from the Campground.

If you are a registered camper and bring your own tubes, you can simply walk your own tubes down to the campground launch. From there you have two choices. You can either tube all the way to Blue Run of Dunnellon Park– an approximate 4-hour float requiring that you leave a vehicle at the County Park exit – or exit at the State Park Tubing Exit.

Keep in mind that if you exit at the State Park, you will need to have at least one person in your party pay the $20 tram fee to take that person back to the campground entrance to retrieve your vehicle.

You can launch from K.P. Hole, a Marion County Park.

If you don’t want to launch from the State Park, you can launch from K.P. Hole, a Marion County Park, which is virtually across the river from the State Park campground launch. You can either rent tubes from K.P. Hole (their tubing season is April 1- September 30), or a private vendor. When launching at K.P. Hole you will float approximately four hours down the river to Blue Run of Dunnellon Park.

Our Adventure Downstream

Our adventure downriver ended up being a mix of the above options.

First, we left our tubes and tubers at the campground drop-off area (which is the same as the tram drop-off area) and drove both vehicles to Blue Run of Dunnellon Park at the bridge. We left one of the vehicles at the park and drove the other back to the ranger station at the campground. We parked that vehicle and walked to the tube launch area.

 

We launched our tubes, headed downstream, and enjoyed more of this pristine gorgeous river. This part of the river is more grassy and developed than the upper portion but it was still gorgeous.

 

There were a good number of boaters out but even with our tubes tied together (I wasn’t about to let the kids just float down by themselves), we never had any issues. We saw a ton of anhingas (snake birds), fish, and turtles, and – this is a first for me while tubing – an ALLIGATOR!

Y’all know that even as a Florida girl, I am not a fan of alligators!

One of the kids said, “Hey, Mom, I think that’s an alligator.” I blew him off as I peered over and sure enough there was a damn gator on the shore!

Taking all the deep breaths I could manage, and trying to stay calm so as not to freak the kids out, I was non-committal on the continued recitations of “MOM, for real, it’s an ALLIGATOR.” So we paddled our tubes a bit farther out into the river and away from the bank and I kept out my eagle eyes. I still cannot believe we saw an alligator while my entire family was floating down the river in TUBES!

We planned to keep floating all the way to Blue Run of Dunnellon Park (where we’d parked a vehicle), but when we saw the State Park Tubing Exit, I was needing a break from alligator searching and I figured we could stop and get the kids a quick snack before jumping back on the river.

Well, we got the tubes out (against a powerful current) and got snacks handed out and it was clear that they weren’t going to make it another 2 hours. The kiddos were tired, we needed to get home, we were running out of river snacks, so we went ahead and deflated the tubes and walked the boardwalk from the river back to the State Park Tubing Entrance – the one place we DIDN’T have a car parked.

 

Once we arrived back at the tram area, we paid the $20 tube rental/tram fee for me to ride back to the Campground Entrance, gather one of the cars, drive back to the Tube Entrance, gather another driver, drive to the county park and gather the other car, and drive back to the Tubing Entrance to gather everyone. It was a lot of coordinating and driving, but I’m not sure any of us would have lasted another two hours on the river that late in the day (and with a drive ahead of us and school the next day).

After a quick change of clothes, it was back on the road.

A few hours later we were home and so nice to see lights on again though town! Until we turned on our street  . . . and still total darkness. Bummer. Hopefully soon. I know they’re working hard out there to get us all back on the grid.

But until then we trade going to bed listening to crickets for going to bed listening to generators.

Have you been tubing or paddling on the Rainbow River? Or visited Rainbow Springs State Park to camp, swim, or take a walk back in time? Any tips or tricks you would pass on? Anything you would like to know?

Thanks for stopping by, and until next time, happy adventuring!

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