Rainbow Springs - Dunnellon, FL

The kids and I went tubing down the Rainbow river but we got shuttled back before we reached the actual springs themselves.  When a few friends and I went to kayak the Weeki Wachee we ended up staying at a bed & breakfast in Dunnellon and drove past the sign for the Rainbow Springs State Park.  We decided to go in and check it out.  The entrance fee was only $2/per person and there was no charge for parking.  We arrived just as they were cleaning up to close up for the day so we didn't get to do swimming or kayaking but we were able to walk around a little and check it out.  We were told by the park ranger that there was a lot of history at this state park and it didn't become a state park until 1996 when the citizens of Dunnellon wanted to slow down the rate of development.  Apparently this park used to have a zoo, rodeo and air trams that have been shut down but some of their remnants have stayed behind.  There were three waterfalls that were man made but that definitely did not take away from their beauty.  You can come to swim in the spring, which is always a brisk 72.4 degrees or take a ride on a kayak or canoe.  Prices are just $10/hour no matter if you are a single or have 3 people in a canoe. Unlike most of the parks that I have been to this had quite a bit of things to see and explore away from the river such as a nature trail and butterfly gardens.Rainbow Springs is the fourth largest springs in the state of Florida and I would suggest coming here to explore if you have a few hours to kill.  The kids and I will be back to kayak through this beautiful area.

Seminole Falls

Rainbow Falls

For more information check out their website - http://www.floridastateparks.org/rainbowsprings/default.cfm

Tubing down the Rainbow River

One night talking with some of Duane's family they had said that they went tubing down the Rainbow River and it was a blast.  This got me thinking that this would be something fun to do with the kids and so I started checking into it.  There are many places along the Rainbow River to rent tubes to do a float and most have either a 2 hour or 4 hour float that you can do.  I thought 4 hours in the river was a bit much for our first adventure, so we decided on the 2 hour float.  I did some checking of prices with the many facilities and came across Dragonfly Watersports. It was on $10 per person for the float and $5.00 for parking.  It was not in the Rainbow River State Park itself so there was more of a chance that it would not fill up as quickly. As with all of the other State Park's here in Florida, it is first come, first serve and when the parking lots fill up the parks are closed.

DragonFly opens at 9:00am and the last launch is at 2:15 pm so I wanted to get there before the rush.  Dunnellon, FL is about an hour and a half from Windermere, so I made the kids get up early and told them to sleep in the car on the way over.  We started out about 7:30 am.  When we arrived we were the first people at the place.  The paperwork and registration was very small and we were heading off to the bus that would take us up the 2.5 miles to where our adventure would begin.  The water was COLD!!! but after a little time it became very comfortable and it was really cool how the water was so clear you could see the bottom of the river.  The floor of the river is covered in what looks like grass (pic) below was taken with my camera looking down into the water. Many time we were able to see the fish that were following us on our float.  The kids really enjoyed it and I think next time we may go for the 4 hour or try one of the spots that actually dumps us into the Rainbow River State Park.  The scenery was just beautiful and we were able to see many types of wildlife, no gators though, which was good because I don't know if the kids would have continued down the float had we seen any.  The float ends back at the place we parked so there is not a lot of hiking the tube around.

Rainbow Springs State Park Tube Facility

10830 SW 180th Ave. Rd. Dunnellon, Fl 34432

(352) 465-4035

Opens in April on weekends only and then after Memorial Day is open through the weekdays.  Thursday - Monday