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In this blog we’ll review Rainbow Springs State Park in near Dunnellon Florida just 20 miles southwest of Ocala Florida. Rainbow Springs has a rich history as a tourist spot and the first-magnitude head spring basin produces up to 600 Million gallons of fresh spring water per day from its various vents. The spring forms the looking-glass clear Rainbow River which supports a wide array of wildlife.
Rainbow Springs State Park contains 11 distinct natural communities within the 1,000-acres of the park. Rainbow Springs was a privately owned theme park that opened in the 1930’s and included a rodeo, zoo, swimming hole, man-made waterfalls, and a gift shop. After the Orlando tourism boom of the early 1970’s and the opening of the large theme parks, Rainbow Springs attendance declined, and the tourist attraction closed in 1974. The attraction remained closed until 1990 when it became a Florida state park.
The park has two main areas, the Rainbow Springs headspring day-use area and the campground and tubing area some 6 miles away by car. Besides the swimming, boating and gardens of the day-use area, a large draw of the park is the amazing tubing, canoeing and kayaking on the crystal-clear Rainbow River. There is a significant tubing business done by the State Park during spring, summer and fall with transport upriver and modern facilities to accommodate many people.
The headspring day-use area is the remains of the tourist attraction from long ago, yet the man-made waterfalls, footpaths, swimming hole and gardens have been well maintained by the state and are a very relaxing place to stroll and recreate. This part of the park is first-come first-serve and often fills up on weekends and in season. When the day-use area is full, no more traffic is allowed access to the area. There are some great views of the spring, lakes, waterfalls and natural scenery in the headspring area and it is well worth a visit.
As far as the campground area, there are two loops with a total of 49 reservable RV sites. The campground is a convenient 5 miles from the small town of Dunnellon with groceries and restaurants. All sites have water, 20, 30 and 50 amp electric and sewer hookups. There is a dump station at campground that was not open. Given every RV site has its own city water and sewer connection, there really is no need for a dump station. Most campsites are gravel with a few paved lots. The campground area is approximately 6 miles by car from the head spring and roughly 1.5 miles from the tubing extraction area along the Rainbow River. There is direct access to the Rainbow River about a ½ mile walk from the campground.
There really is no obvious drawback to the park or campground that we noticed, save that the campground is located the 6-mile drive away from the head spring and there are no foot trails between the two areas within the park. In this regard, hiking is somewhat limited, although there is a nice nature trail loop near the campground.
There are five criteria we look at when rating a campground. First up, Hospitality and Check-In. We give this only a 4 out of 5 mainly because there was no ranger station at the main entrance, and we had to proceed to the main building to check in. This meant leaving the vehicle to interact within the building to receive our site tag. Not a huge issue, but a step or so more than the very easy process in other Florida State Parks where you never leave your vehicle.
The other issue is receiving packages or forwarded mail at the park. If you do have a package or mail sent to yourself while staying at the campground, make sure you have the package sent to the campground and not the main day-use area accidentally. For us this caused confusion and a delay in receiving our package as it had to be brought over from the day-use area.
Next in our review is Infrastructure & Amenities which we are giving a 5 out of 5. The main park road and campground loops are paved and in excellent shape. There are modern bathhouses with laundry machines and each of the RV sites has 20, 30 and 50 amp electric, water, and sewer hook-ups. Like most Florida State Parks, the campground is well maintained and cleaned by the campground hosts, and there is a security gate with passcode to enter the campground area.
Site Quality gets a 5 out of 5 as quality and privacy of the various sites is outstanding. There are thick berms and plenty of space between campsites. Having stayed at many different campgrounds, the campsites at Rainbow Springs are certainly up there in terms of best campsites stayed at. It is just hard to imagine better in terms of amenities, privacy and quality without paying significantly more. All sites have fire pits, picnic tables and are basically level. If you desire private sites with full hookups in an idyllic setting at a relatively low cost, this is the place.
Our Exercisability rating is a 3 out of 5 as there are paved park roads to run on with very occasional slow traffic as well as the 1.5-mile paved tram road that can be used off-season (late fall to early spring). If you stay here in season, you will need to run very early to use the tram road (before 8 a.m. and after 6 p.m.). In this regard, running and biking would be much more difficult during tubing season. Given very few hiking trails, the opportunity for hiking or trail running is somewhat limited. The main exercise opportunity really is canoeing and kayaking on the Rainbow River of which there is good access from the campground.
Finally, we are giving a 3 out of 5 for Workability as the bandwidth for AT&T was only fair, with Verizon only slightly better. Using an iPhone 10, we had speeds of only 1.18 Mbps down and 0.11 Mbps up on AT&T, making it difficult to use. Using our Verizon Jetpack 8800L MiFi, we experienced only slightly better speeds of 6.52 Mbps down and an abysmal 0.05 Mbps up. So be warned that unless you bring a cell booster of some sort, you may have real difficulty working remotely. We do use a WeBoost Drive Sleek that helps in situations like this and is available on our Amazon storefront.
Overall, we thought Rainbow Springs State Park was a great value and would stay here again. We could work remotely and exercise, as we did use a cell booster and were visiting off-season. The campground quality, private and spacious campsites with full hookups, at a Florida State Park price, made for a top-notch and highly recommended experience. If you are looking for a relaxed state park with outstanding amenities and natural beauty at an exceptional value, this should certainly be on your list. The biggest issue will be planning enough in advance to reserve one of the 49 campsites. Florida State Parks booking window is 11 months, so you need to plan well in advance to hook the best campsites.
All the best in your camping endeavors!
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