Silver Springs: Tourist Attraction to State Park

If you are like me, you remember the old tourist attraction "Silver Springs" and the previous "Silver River State Park" where the main access was by boat.  Welcome to the new Silver Springs State Park which opened in 2014.

Silver River

This is an area with huge natural resource potential as the state staff and volunteers turn the previous tourist attraction into the "Real Florida".

Boardwalk on the Swamp Trail
Leading to the Silver River

I suspect SilverSprings has been a prime tourist attraction since it first bubbled from the earth. Phillip Morrell fixed a piece of glass in the bottom of a rowboat and a new enterprise began.  By the late 1800s it was Florida's main tourist attraction touting the beautiful Silver River with tours of the springs using glass bottom boats.

Today's Silver Springs

In the race for tourist dollars other attractions sprouted up creating a 'plastic' version of Florida, most notably the Disney Complex, which changed the face of the state. Ah, I diverge. Anyway, Silver Springs had to adapt or close due to a lack of business. So, the park added more tacky structures, an animal park, petting zoo, amusement park rides, and a water park. Even that was not sufficient in the end and after realizing the upkeep was more than the income, the park was 'given' to the state of Florida.

Shop Row
A quiet stroll these days

Under the park service, the land is returning to nature. The formal gardens are being restored to an earlier time and the animal pens, rides, and tacky buildings removed. The rhesus monkeys and spider monkeys will remain at present. There are three pods or families of rhesus monkeys according to the biologist and trapper Mickey Summers who we encountered during our canoe paddle on the Ft. King canoe trail.

Bill unloading the canoe
for the paddle

Back to the park...

This is really five parks in one. There is the rustic side with multi-use trails (equestrian, bicycle, canoe/kayak, hike) through the back country. This section includes a campground with spacious sites that adjoin the trails. You will also find a Cracker Village in the park at the Silver River Museum that is used by the Marion County Schools to impart the history of Florida by living in the village, 8AM – 2PM Monday-Friday, and the weekends it is a working village for everyone else to visit.

Canoe Launch
near the head springs

Then we have the former tourist attractions, Silver Springs and Wild Waters. Wild Waters will continue to operate as a water park and hopefully help fund the restoration of the old Silver Springs as the park service works to create a nature park that retains the historical aspect of the 'tourist attraction' while incorporating modern conveniences and services. 

Complete with bicycle trails
and parking!
Cycle or hike the trails the campground
to the springs

Yes, this is a complex park that requires time, money, staff, and volunteers to maintain the existing facilities and bring it into a truly world class Florida State Park.

The Silver River
Looking towards the head springs

Plan a visit!