Rainbow Springs State Park

Recently we visited Rainbow Springs State Park for a quick weekend getaway.  We made reservations ten months ago after our 2020 reservations were cancelled.  The park was almost full even ten months out, so we just grabbed any site that was available.  The difficulty in finding spots is not surprising given the popularity of the park and the timing of our visit during snowbird season in Florida.  This knowledge makes it no less frustrating when trying to reschedule reservations.  So, we sucked up our disappointment, found reservations, and let our excitement build all over again for this trip. After months of waiting (almost TWO YEARS if you count the first cancellation), we finally visited Rainbow Springs and we were delighted with our experience.

The State Park

The history of Rainbow Springs State Park is incredibly interesting, in part because it was originally opened as a theme park in the 1930s.  In its prime, it was spectacular with beautiful springs, subwater boats, a zoo, waterfalls, a monorail, and so much more.  The commercial park eventually closed in 1974 and was reopened in the 1990s as a Florida State Park.   It has a similar history to Silver Springs State Park, which is another of our favorites.  I wish we could have visited these parks back in their “hay day.”

Now this park has three distinct areas, the main headsprings, the campground, and the river tubing entrance.  The areas are separated because there is a gap in the land the state owns.  This park has so much to offer visitors, including, history, waterfalls, swimming, camping, kayaking, tubing and so much more.  It is a beautiful park with some of the most vibrant spring colors in all of Florida.

The Campground

The campground has a separate entrance from the main park with no access to the main park except on the river or by vehicle.  There is a trolly ride provided to the tubing entrance during tubing season.  The ranger station had a large area with the history of the park that you will not want to miss, along with the expected check in information.  The campground store is large and has all your necessities, last minute supplies, good souvenirs, and watersport rentals.  It is helpful that they rent kayaks and canoes at the campground since there is water access to the river here and at the main park.  The sites are full-hookups and the campground has a dump station.  The laundry facilities and bathrooms are nice, but during our visit the main men’s bathroom was closed which would have been very inconvenient if we needed to use it.  Overall, most sites were large and easy to back in the RV.  The campground has two loops, sites 1-43 and sites 44-60.  Almost all the sites are large, but the first loop has significantly more private and wooded sites. One negative to note, the cell signal at the campground was not great even with our signal booster, so it would have been difficult for us to work from this campground.  We stayed in one of the more open sites during our visit and still LOVED the experience. We highly recommend it if you have the opportunity.

Kayaking in the River

Rainbow River is BEAUTIFUL.  In most spring rivers, you will see the brilliant colors at the spring head.  In Rainbow River, we enjoyed the vivid colors all the way down the river.  We brought our own kayaks and put them in at the campground to kayak up to the spring head.  We were glad we paddled upstream first and then were able to enjoy a more relaxing paddle back going with the flow of the water.  The river is wide and crystal clear all the way to the spring.  We saw people in kayaks, canoes, boating, and scuba diving.  When we reached the spring head, we were able to take the kayaks out of the water and explore the main park.  This is where the swimming area is roped off, you know, to keep out the alligators and make it safe?  I joke, but it is a very open area with crystal clear water that most people would feel very comfortable enjoying a swim in the water.  It was not tubing season, but during the summer the lower river it is a very popular for tubing.  Although, it was a chilly day and the water was too cold for us to take a swim, we saw a lot of people enjoying the 72 degree spring water.  After exploring the park, we hopped back into our kayaks and enjoyed the paddle back to the campground.  The paddle back was significantly less work and we were able to enjoy the time taking pictures, watching for wildlife, and taking in the beauty of the water.  You will want to explore this park in the water to truly see the best it has to offer guests.  Rainbow River quickly moved up to the top of our favorites list!

Important Things to Consider for your Stay

This was an amazing state park and lived up to our expectations.  We do have a couple of things that you should consider when making your reservations.

• The campground and main park are not connected, so you either must drive or kayak. We had neighbors that only had their Class C, which limited them in exploring the whole park without unhooking and taking the whole camper with them.

• The campground has two loops, and the first loop sites are considerably more private.

• There are not a lot of other attractions super close in the area, but if you are willing to drive thirty to sixty minutes you will find more to explore.

• The spring head is a 45-minute paddle up the river from the campground against the flow of the water, making the paddle back a little quicker and easier. You can rent kayaks at either the campground or the main state park, but if you bring your own you will want to launch at the campground. We are not expert kayakers and do not have fast kayaks and found this to be a fun adventure.

We hope you enjoy Rainbow Springs as much as we did on our visit!