I love it when travel activities fall into my lap unexpectedly. By sheer circumstance, I stumbled across Rainbow Springs State Park. This park has some of the most gorgeous crystal clear, aqua blue water I’ve ever seen!
Only a 2 minute drive from my Airbnb, I decided to spend my morning exploring the park. I thought I might check it out by kayak but the chilly air of the morning and a tight schedule led me to hiking the park instead.
I had no idea I’d end up enjoying this park as much as I did. Sometimes the best travel moments happen without prior planning!
Why I Visited Rainbow Springs
Rainbow Springs State Park was not on my radar for my trip to Florida’s Gulf Coast. The only reason I added it onto my itinerary was that it was walking distance from my Airbnb!
I had plans for this second day of my trip: snorkeling with manatees on Crystal River. But I could not pass up the chance to see another beautiful spring especially since it was so close to my accommodation.
Also rainbows are gay and I like gay things! (lol)
I learned that Rainbow River, which flows from Rainbow Springs State Park, is known for its 500 million gallons of pure and pristine water flowing through every day. The color of the water is insanely gorgeous—a huge draw for its year-round visitors.
This area of Florida has many springs and rivers all over. They are all known for their filtered purity and vibrant color. So well known, in fact, there are ongoing legal battles over companies trying to capitalize on their quality. This really bothers me. There is such little fresh water on this Earth—I feel strongly that we must protect it from misuse by big companies.
Various water activities are popular at these springs such as scuba diving like I did at Devil’s Den the day before. At Rainbow Springs there’s also swimming, snorkeling, tubing, and kayaking. I had the motivation to get up early enough to explore Rainbow Springs by kayak.
Planning My Visit
My itinerary for the day was Rainbow Springs in the morning, Crystal River in the afternoon, then drive to Sarasota in the evening to my next Airbnb stay. I had to plan things just right if I wanted to fit in Rainbow Springs!
Rainbow Springs State Park is open 8am to 5pm every day of the year. There is a small fee of $2 per person to enter.
There is a personal kayak launch area in the park which I thought I might use. But I found out I would have to walk my kayak from the parking lot about 10 minutes. Not ideal. So I started looking into other options to kayak.
While kayaks are available for rent right in the park, I thought I might want to drift down the river to enjoy it in its entirety. I found Rainbow River Canoe and Kayak which offered transport up to the park so I could float downriver to where Rainbow River merges with the Withlacoochee River back at the facility.
I took a drive there at 7:30am to find the owner standing outside. The temperature at that time was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit! Yes, that is cold for Florida but not unusual for the early morning hours in mid-February. I was already not feeling too keen to kayak with it being that cold, but I was curious to hear my options anyway.
The owner explained that the water was clearest up in the park and that floating down the river takes several hours. I didn’t have that much time and I really just wanted to see the crystal clear springs. I thanked him for his honest advice and decided to go up to the park.
That Clear, Turquoise Water
Still feeling how cold it was, I decided I would just check out the park by foot.
Arriving right before 8am, I was the first person into the park that morning. The sun was peeking through the trees and some light fog which made for some enchanting scenery on my way into the park.
When I reached the springs, the sun was just over the trees and shining down illuminating its beautiful turquoise water. Wow! This scene is definitely up there in the top 5 water scenes I’ve every laid eyes on!
I checked out the swimming area of the park, which I imagine would be so refreshing on a hot day. Dipping my camera in the water, I could see how incredibly clear and pristine the water really is—just amazing.
I’m so obsessed with water like this! I might have to do a post where I actually rank the beautiful waterscapes I’ve seen around the world… Hmmmmm!
Rainbow Springs By Foot
Anyway, I decided to explore some of the pathways around the park since I still had a couple of hours to spare. There are several paved pathways that wind through curated gardens and small waterfalls.
In addition to the waterfalls, there’s tons of flowers and foliage to admire all over.
The pathways were beautiful and they had levels with lookout points to take in the whole view of the park.
The wildlife was fun to observe, too.
One small pool that led to a waterfall was filled with tadpoles! I loved that I could see every one of them, even in the deeper parts, because the water was so clear. I imagine this being a really cute place to take children to learn about how frogs develop.
In another area, I spotted a male pileated woodpecker hammering away for some breakfast. Their bright red color is so beautiful!
Hiking Yellow Trail
After observing the main park, I decided to look for a trail I saw when I was researching the area earlier. Supposedly there were some hiking trails at the back of the park.
I found the top of the trails only a few minutes walk South of the Visitor Center. I decided to follow Yellow Trail because it was recommended to me online.
Right at the start, there was a sign warning about bears in the area. I will never forget the encounter I had with bears in New York. I don’t know why but I sometimes forget that bears are everywhere and not just in New York. Now I was on high alert! I know loud noise usually keeps them away so I decided to play some music as I hiked—Hamilton the musical soundtrack was my choice.
Since it was still early, I only saw one group of young hikers on the trails. Otherwise I was completely on my own. It felt nice to get a little “lost” in nature for a while—even though the paths were very clearly marked with their respective colors. I easily followed the yellow tree markings.
The trees here were really diverse. The pines mixed with palms and figs make Florida hikes so unique from hikes I do in other parts of the US.
Some of the fallen trees in the area had tons of fungi growing on them. The fungi were so beautifully arranged on these logs that I couldn’t pass up taking photos of them.
The hike took about an hour to complete. This was the perfect amount of time. And no bears were encountered!
Before leaving, I took one more walk through the park. I made sure to stop to take in the beautiful water again. By now the temperature was warmer and there were a few kayakers out on the river.
Watching them on the water made me think about maybe coming back one day. I’d love to one day rent a clear kayak there just to make the experience even more magical.
In Conclusion
I really enjoyed my visit to Rainbow Springs State Park. I never would have gone if I didn’t happen to stay nearby.
Sometimes circumstances just work out that way when you travel. As long as you stay open to it and flexible in your itinerary, you can squeeze in an experience you didn’t expect to be so great!
Rainbow Springs ended up being one of the many highlights of this trip for me. But there was about to be another one that afternoon…
