Rainbow Springs--What Once Was.

In the decades between the time Florida was popularized as a tourist destination and the time Disney changed the face of tourism in the state, there were hundreds of various amusement parks there. Many of these parks had been based around the first and second magnitude springs that had ended up in private hands. In fact, many of the greatest freshwater springs in Florida were privately owned, and of those number, quite a few had amusement parks built around them.

Some of these amusement parks were fairly low-key, counting on the vast pools of water to attract the ticket-buyers. But others were far more complex with rides, additional gardens, glass-bottom boats, zoos, and other attractions. One of the more detailed of these parks was Rainbow Springs.

In its day, Rainbow Springs was a major tourist attraction in Florida. People came not only to see the amazing first magnitude spring billowing the millions of gallons of pure, fresh water, but to also take in the rest of the attraction. To paraphrase Richard Attenborough in JURASSIC PARK, someone "spared no expense". The infrastructure of the amusement park, although long since moth-balled, is still impressive on modern review.

Among the things that the park had was a fairly impressive small zoo. Many parts of this zoo are still standing, and quite solidly at that. Of course the enclosures have been mainly taken down and there are no more exotic creatures in them, but the walls and outlines can be seen. In addition, there was a huge aviary there; one can still see the massive steel and concrete anchors that once held up the gigantic metal skeleton and nets.

A part of the park now is called "the Butterfly Garden" and is planted with native flora to attract butterflies. But up until the park was closed as a commercial concern, that area had a corral and was home to a western-style rodeo.

And in various places around the park there are waterfalls. The owner had added to the already hilly terrain of the slope above the head spring to create towers of earth and rock. These were specifically engineered and landscaped to create a surface upon which waterfalls were constructed. Some of these artificial waterfalls are very impressive. The water is pumped to the highest points to big clear pools where gravity takes it back down over rocky overhangs producing waterfalls suitable for even the hills of North Carolina. To me, this is one of the most impressive things about the faded ghost of the old amusement park.

Today, most of the flash is gone--the zoo, the rodeo, the aviary, and the rides that included the glass-bottom boats and a rather unique submarine that had been built to allow visitors to sit below water level as the craft took them on a circuit around the massive Rainbow Spring. But you can still see the substrate upon which all of this was built. Like almost all of the other amusement parks that were based around Florida's gorgeous freshwater springs, this one ended up in the hands of the people of Florida where it can be enjoyed by everyone for a couple of bucks, instead of an expensive admission ticket.

So the rapacious Disney corporation was good for one thing--it was obviously instrumental in causing all of these great springs to end up in the hands of the State of Florida.

(And here is a site with a little bit of information on old Lost Florida.)

Rainbow Springs, the natural feature around which the old park was constructed.

Waterfalls? Really? (Well, not really.)

The trails and boardwalks are renovated when needed, but are built on the same template laid down by the private owners from decades before.

One of the largest of the fake waterfalls.

This was my favorite of the fake waterfalls.

The main center of the old amusement park is still in use. Here are the park offices, a shop where you can buy State Park stuff, and a bit of a burger/sandwich/ice cream joint and dining area where you can enjoy your food.

Some of these man-made waterfalls really are quite pretty.

Brick laid decades ago still serves perfectly today.

This was once a pool that held some kind of aquatic critters. Now it's a giant planter.

First Day on the Spring Runs.

We began our vacation by leaving rather later than we intended and loading up in the dark. I drove as far as I could and we pulled into a rest area somewhere in Georgia where we climbed into our trailer and went to sleep. Generally, we try to start our trailer vacations this way because it helps to cut the stress of driving long distances.

The next day we headed out at the crack of dawn and got to our campsite at Rainbow Springs State Park. We chose this park for several reasons, among them the fact that the campground had full hookups (water, electric, and sewer), and that it was central to a number of the springs we had chosen to visit. The first day there we got my kayak (to add to Carole's), and just mainly scoped out what we were going to do over the next few days.

The weather was pretty good to us. Temperatures were unseasonably mild, the bugs were likewise mild, and we hardly had to use the air-conditioner in the trailer at all. What was a bit strange is that this part of Florida is apparently in a pretty bad drought, so the levels of the rivers and streams was down quite a bit. This would have some impact on us later on.

I have to say...getting away from cities I am reminded more and more how disconnected I have become from society at large. You can have your crowds and your craziness. My preference remains what we have left of Mother Nature in her wild state. Give me the forests and creeks, the mountains and waterfalls. I'll watch the critters move through the trees and the rest of you can rub elbows in the city streets.

This was our campsite at the Rainbow Springs State Park. It looks rather exposed, but in fact it was shaded for most of the day, getting full sun only in the later afternoon.

We wasted no time in getting out on the Rainbow River. The day we paddled it, though, was a Saturday, and the river was rather crowded. Unfortunately not just with other kayakers and canoe enthusiasts, but with your gas-belching power boats.

There are almost always lots of turtles on the rivers and spring runs. They don't let you get close, though, so you have to take photos with telephoto settings.

I know this is a lousy shot...but it's almost impossible to take photos of river otters. This one was fishing and he caught a fish while I watched. Gobbled it right down, too, on the fly.

A barred owl we saw on the ride upstream. We saw a lot of barred owls this trip. I don't know if it was the luck of the draw, or if there are just a lot more of them now.

Good ol' Snowy egret.

Carole in her Wilderness Pungo 120 kayak as we paddle down the Rainbow River.