Kayaking Our Favorite River In Florida - The Rainbow Springs River

Dunnellon, FL (82 degrees, cloudy skies)

The Rainbow Springs River is delightful in so many ways. It's a kaleidoscope of color and the clear fresh water are so much  fun to kayak, tube, or swim in. Year round the water temperature is 74 degrees and it's another place where huge amounts of fresh water pour in from springs interspersed along the way.  

A couple of years ago we stayed at the Rainbow Springs State Park and launched from there.  This time we used a launch site at the K.P. Hole County Park. It's a well run park and we'd recommend getting there early to secure a parking spot. We almost didn't get one. There is a $5/person admission fee to use the facilities, picnic area, and launch site for boats, tubes, and kayaks.  There were lots of patient staff checking coolers and dealing  with the large crowds. There is a no alcohol policy and one guy was very disappointed to find out they have a device which "sniffs" your containers for alcohol. He was very vocal in his dismay, however, was allowed to take the container back to his car. You also cannot take any disposable bottles on the river so be sure to have your water in a recyclable container.  

K.P. Hole County Park

We drove up to the launch area and were allowed to drop off our gear and then park the car.  There is a long ramp leading out to the river and it was an easy launch. Folks with tubes or boats leave from another area.  It is very organized and probably the most efficient place we have seen which handles large crowds.  

Anhinga drying it's wings and enjoying the day too

From here you can either paddle upstream to the headwaters and float back. Or you can float downstream and paddle upstream back to the park.  We choose to go upstream to avoid the large groups of tubers. Within minutes it was peaceful and so delightful. One side of the river has beautiful homes and the other side is natural and a part of the Rainbow Springs State Park. We saw a lot of birds and turtles and no alligators.  

Scuba divers love this place too.We saw many organized groups out diving into the underwater caves. I'm not brave enough to try anything so adventurous but it was fun watching them.  

Scuba Divers getting off of a dive boat. There were lots of smiling faces

Dive boat with cave divers

We paddled around the swimming area of the State Park and then headed back. There are lots of ways you can enjoy this river. Here are links to the other blog posts with two other ways to kayak this river.

Lazy Paddle Down the Rainbow River-launch Rainbow River State Park

Kayaking the Rainbow River using a livery

Swimming area of State Park

If your plans take you to central Florida be sure to check out this beautiful place. The campground is very nice but does require advance reservations. We were staying in Wildwood and it was about a 45 minute drive to the park.

Here is my favorite photo of the day!  Check out the Yellow-bellied Slider Turtle basking on the log.. She seems to be delighted with day too. My girl friend Karen says it looks like she has a mermaid tail.