RAINBOW SPRINGS STATE PARK, Dunnellon, Florida

RAINBOW SPRINGS STATE PARK

19158 SW 81st Place Road

Dunnellon, Florida 34432

353-465-8555

www.floridastateparks.org

Hours: 8 am until sunset, 365 days a year

We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon at Rainbow Springs State Park.  

The $2 per person charge was well worth it, 

as you will see from the beauty of what we found there.

The water temperature of the Rainbow River remains

at a cool 72 degrees year round. 

The Rainbow River is a first magnitude spring-fed river

 ranked largest in the state by volume of flow. 

The springs discharge 300-400 million gallons of water per day 

into the 5.7 mile Rainbow River.

It has been a tourist attraction since the early 1890's.

In the mid-1970's, when larger theme parks lured the tourists away,

 Rainbow Springs was closed. 

In the mid-1990's, it reopened as a State Park.

(The above information taken from brochures.)

A view from the visitor's center patio.

Crystal clear water reflects green on backs

of turtles, and blue sky.

Azaleas maybe.  I have never seen this tangerine color.

It was stunning against the greens.

I was using the VIVID color feature on my Canon SX40 camera.

This little Carolina Wren intrigued me for

quite a while, singing his heart out,

to another Wren, off in the distance.

He reminded me of the little ones who had

build their nest outside our kitchen window last Spring.

Kayak and canoe rentals are available at 352-465-3211.

Maybe we will give this a try, in the future.

It looked so peaceful, and the waters are shallow.

The first waterfalls of many we enjoyed along the paths.

 Pools created near the waterfalls

 were filled with small fingerlings, 

that seemed to like to hide under the moss and leaves 

that creeped from the edge of the pools.

 The natural arch of this tree limb over the crystal stream

was too pretty to ignore.

 Rainbow Falls

 Brown Anole is from the Iguanid family,

and blends in well with the leaves and rocks.

Lance-Leaved Arrowhead

I love the color contrast

 the leaves provide in this photo.

I wish I could capture the wonderful

sounds for you, 

 that we heard as the water cascaded down.

This is a Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly,

 that teased me, as it flitted around

at the edge of the pond. 

 Eventually, another hiker told me a technique he uses to get a close-up

 of nature subjects that are moving.

When you enter Florida, be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center,

and look for the State Parks Guide,

which lists hundreds of places similar to this one.

My AAA gave one of the Guides to me,

which the State had provided to them.