Silver River

Our adventure today was a visit to Silver River State Park in Silver Springs, just east of Ocala.  We parked near the museum (closed today) and decided first to explore the campground. We had been hesitant to make a reservation there, but found that our concerns were unfounded. It's a beautiful campground with large, well spaced sites. Pretty much all of them are very easy to access. The campground is pretty much empty right now--probably because it's Monday and August--which means extremely hot, humid, and rainy!

Next we found the trailhead for the River Hikes. Two trails share this trailhead, the River Trail and the Swamp Trail. The ranger at the gate recommended the Swamp Trail, so that's the one we took.

It's an easy hike, well traveled and well marked. Various interpretive signs along the way describe the plants and the habitats, from pine forests, to oak hammocks, to cypress swamp. We were beginning to wonder where the swamp was when we came to the boardwalk. There was swamp on both sides of the boardwalk, which was constructed by volunteers from two local businesses. Part of the trail itself was designed as an Eagle Scout project and constructed by members of the Boy Scout troop. Yay for volunteers!

At the end of the boardwalk is an overlook on the Silver River. We saw small boats, canoes, kayaks, and even a pontoon boat passing  by. This one struck us as rather original, so we called out and asked if the umbrella was a custom design. The occupants said yes, and so was the boat!

Signs alert hikers to the presence of black bears and alligators, but all we saw were turtles. Folks passing by in the boats were excitedly reporting their sighting of monkeys just around the bend. We later learned that this band of feral macaques is descended from a troop brought in by a jungle cruise ride operator in 1938.

The river water is extremely clear. The river, which is only seven miles long, is fed by several crystal clear springs.

Silver Springs is famous for its glass bottom  boats, and after our hike we were looking forward to a cruise in one. We drove to the adjacent Silver Springs Theme Park, which is being turned over to the State of Florida in September. We knew that the rides had all been closed except for the glass bottom boats and that admission was free. What we didn't know is that there's an $8 charge to park, and if there's any lightning in the area, the boats do not operate. Fortunately we chatted with the parking attendant, who mentioned that the boats were not operating because lightning had been spotted. Given the weather forecast of a 50% chance of showers and thunder storms, we decided to leave.

We stopped on the way home for groceries, and we couldn't pass up a large Goodwill store.