Silver Springs State Park
 

After living here almost two years, I finally made a day trip today to Silver Springs State Park. Easy drive under an hour just east of Ocala. What an enjoyable experience! Nice trails to walk around and a very nice on-site cafe. The highlight was the glass-bottom boat ride. Highly recommend the 90 minute ride, as the longer ride concentrates on wildlife in addition to viewing the crystal blue springs. We saw several manatee, gators, and a plethora of birds. The scenery was breath-taking. Buy your tickets on line in advance. Highly recommend this easy day trip - and then afterwards, you can visit a good restaurant in Ocala (I went to Amrit for the first time - very good Indian food and wonderful service.)

You can also rent kayaks there. I felt appropriately small as I saw gators at their level.

Years ago there some great concerts at the park.

Love that place!

Thank you - I’m going to try this!

When I was little my grandparent would take me there and I remember monkeys would always jump on the boat. Did you see any of the monkeys?

They told us to be on the look for monkeys - we unfortunately did not spot any - our guide said he usually sees monkeys about once a week, so it’s hit or miss if you will see any - we were fortunate that we spotted several manatees on my visit.

I used to live a mile down the road. We visited often. There was a water park and an animal park. Both my girls worked there. It has changed and needs some upkeep but it is still a nice place to go.

If you walk the trail on the parking lot side of the water, there are LOTS of monkeys!🐒

You may see monkeys in Fruitland Park too. They've migrated to Lake County.

I grew up in Palmora Park in Leesburg and our neighbors had a monkey named coco and every morning the monkey would come 2 houses down to ours and we’d give her a banana and she’d go back home.

Ha! You think Coco went back home when she was really going house to house collecting bananas.

Seriously, that's a really cute story.

The first time I went years ago they had rides, a small zoo, more places to eat and the glass bottom boat that took in all the river views for one price.

We went last year and I swear the same boats used when my parents took me and my sister back in the 60’s. I dug out our old family Photo albums and sure enough there was me and sis in the group boat pics taken by the captain. Was a great day.

I went kayaking with my sister and brother-in-law who were visiting here. We saw monkeys all over the place as well as crocodiles and manatees. The water is crystal clear and you can see everything.

The manatees come right up to your kayak. The alligators pretty much just lay out in the sun. They almost look fake since they barely move. Some people were trying to feed the monkeys but I heard that that's not a good idea as they can be aggressive and they carry disease.

The only thing that annoyed me was towards the end of the kayak trip there were a ton of people on jet skis, which created waves. Some of the people looked like it was their first time riding one so you have to watch out for them. There was also one group of people on a pontoon going up river that ended up getting stuck on a log. I'm not sure what they were thinking trying to get that huge thing up that little, relatively shallow river.

At their level…🐊 No…!!!

Gator emoji won’t print

Do they still have the Cracker Village on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month?

We reallly enjoyed it. And remember, The Creature from the Black Lagoon was partially made there.

To bad you didn’t have the chance to see it 15 to 20 years ago, when bands played on weekends

Years ago, Black people were not allowed at the main part of Silver Springs. There was a separate area named Paradise Park set aside for them located next to where they now rent kayaks.

I saw a TV show about this on the local PBS station. When we lived in Northern Virginia, there was a show called "Tony Brown's Journal" and Tony said, "If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade", and it appears that is exactly what the local Black people in Ocala did.

The TV show interviewed several local people who had very good memories of Paradise Park. When their parents told them they were going to Paradise Park on the weekend, they would get very excited. They would have family gatherings, beauty contests, and lots of activities.

I wish the Silver Springs Park would restore Paradise Park to help us better understand the history of Florida, both good and bad.

Hopefully the regular restaurant remodeling will be finished soon, nice to be able to have a nice place to eat right in the state park. Did you know a lot more of the attractions are open only on weekends ? Like free admission to the museum for example. Also, since you're still fairly new to the area, if you've not visited the Appleton Museum in Ocala, definitely worth repeat visits. If you sign up on their website you can request an email of their many varied events. Also, if you've not yet driven the National Forrest in the fall, that's a nice experience but wait until after we have the first frosty nights to get the best picture.

As a native Floridian I can attest that was true, a kind of separate but equal gesture to make a really nice park. At that time it was not a state park.

I definitely remember those ! That was when it was still an attraction, not a State of Florida park. Great variety of concerts and locals could purchase season tickets. Doubt we'll ever see that again since it's become state park.

Yep, remember it all. That's the difference in an attraction and a state park. I'm just glad, when Rainbow Springs and the iconic glass bottom boats, and the small zoo, and all the things they added to "save" it from the fate of so many old Florida attractions that fell to the Disney-Universal-Sea World dazzle, the state stepped in and at least saved it as a state park !