Monday, May 3, 2010

Kelley Park / Rock Springs - Apopka, FL

Kelly Park

400 E Kelly Park RD
Apopka 32712
Open Monday - Sunday - 8am - 8pm (summer) 8am - 6pm (winter)

While Cody was attending the YMCA summer camp he told me about this really cool place that they would go tubing at.  I looked into it and thought this seemed something very Florida like so off we went.  Everyone I talked to said get there early, because once the parking lot is full there is no more admission.  So we left the house around 7:30 am and off we went.  Before we got to the entrance of the park I saw tub rental places offering some pretty good prices so that you would not have to swim the entire time, but float.  They charge a deposit as well as a rental fee for each of the tubes, but you receive your deposit back when you bring the tubes back after you are done and it an all day rental.  After tying these to the back hatch of the van we were off.  This is really important to get because there are NO tube rentals in the park itself.  We paid a nominal fee of $1 per person at the entrance to the park. There were tons of people flowing in and I was glad that we decided to go early because about an hour after we entered (right around 10) the park was already closed.

The water was cold due to it being a spring but after a few minutes of the heat it was very refreshing.  You walk you tubes through a walkway to the top of the float and are able to jump into an area where the spring flows in.  It is about 25 foot deep and helps your body get acclimated to the temperature of the water.  I would definitely suggest bringing something to float on as the entire float is filled with very large, very sharp rocks that are not very knee friendly.  The float itself was about 25 minutes where you then flow into a larger area that is used for swimming. This is a nice area if you have smaller kids or do not want to do the floating.  There is another passage way after this that you can continue down if you would like.

Want to stay for the entire day?  No problem.  They have areas that you can set up a canopy and bring your picnic baskets and coolers.  In addition to this they also have a concession stand that offers many good items without breaking the bank.  Don't like to much sun?  There were many shady areas that you can hang out in from the tall forest that surrounds the area.  Tired of swimming?  There were also trails that you could hike in or large areas that you could toss a ball or frisbee around to work up a sweat before going back in and cooling off.



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