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In this blog, we’ll review Silver Springs State Park just east of Ocala Florida. Silver Springs has a rich history as a tourist spot for over 100 years, and contains the largest artesian spring in the world, producing greater than 300 Million gallons of fresh spring water per day. The spring forms the crystal-clear Silver River which supports a wide array of wildlife.
Silver Springs State Park contains 5,000-acres including just under 15 miles of trails to explore. The head spring area, that was a former privately owned tourist attraction, became a state park in 2013. Prior to this, the state ran what was known as Silver River State Park which did not include the privately owned head spring area attraction.
Near the campground is the Silver River Museum, with a wide array of authentic period houses and artifacts from long ago. The outdoor area of the museum is a nice stroll to take near the main trailheads and worth the time. There is a period glass-bottom boat on display as well as a one-room schoolhouse and various other period dwellings and structures.
The main head spring area is almost 3 miles by trail and also worth the effort. Although you can travel there by car, I prefer the hike, as the Spring Connector Trail goes through a beautiful, wooded area. The head spring area requires admission, yet the fees can be waived with a campsite tag. So, if you plan to drive or hike to the main head spring area, remember to bring your site tag.
While at the head spring area, it is easy to see that it had been a commercial interest until just recently. There are many stores and landmarks depicting the touristy nature of the area. The grounds are spacious and worth the trip, and the spring area itself is very relaxing and beautiful.
As far as the campground is concerned, there are two loops with a total of 57 reservable RV campsites that have water and electric service. There are 13 campsites with sewer hook-ups. The campground is only a few miles from groceries and restaurants in Northeast Ocala. There is a dump station at the campground that can accommodate two RVs at a time. Given the 44 campsites without sewer connection, this makes for a 22:1 ratio of campsites to dump stations, which is outstanding. Most campsites are gravel, large and level. There are also several pull-through sites available. One thing to be aware of are the four smaller sites that share a driveway. Site 12 & 13 in the Sharpes Ferry Loop and sites 40 & 41 in the Fort King Loop share a drive and both sites 12 & 40 are smaller and difficult to back into. The campground sits in the midst of a nice, wooded area. There are also ten cabins to rent if interested.
There are five criteria we look at when rating a campground. First up, Hospitality and Check-In. We give this a 5 out of 5 as it was very easy to check-in. We didn’t need to leave the vehicle to do so, as the ranger confirmed our reservation and gave us our site tag and we were on our way.
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. Like most Florida State Park campgrounds, the campground is well maintained and cleaned by the campground hosts, and there is a security gate with passcode to enter the campground area after hours.
Site Quality gets a 4 out of 5 as quality of the various sites is good and privacy also very good. There are some berms and decent space between most campsites. As mentioned above, be aware of sites 12 & 13 and 40 & 41 when booking, as these sites share common driveways. Most campsites have good shade as well, given the many tall pines in the campground. As a reminder, 13 of the 57 reservable campsites have sewer hook-ups with the remainder only having water and electric. Most sites are very large and can accommodate most large RVs.
Having stayed at many different campgrounds, the campsites at Silver Springs are some of the best stayed at. If all campsites had full hookups, it would be difficult to imagine better in terms of quality without paying significantly more. All sites also have firepits, picnic tables and are basically level.
Our Exercisability rating is a 5 out of 5 as there are paved park roads to run on with very occasional slow traffic as well as the nearly 15-miles of quality trails within the park. Some of the trails are well suited for mountain biking and as mentioned earlier, there is an almost 3-mile trail from the campground to the head spring area. There is also access to the Silver River which is excellent for canoeing and kayaking. So, opportunities for recreation and exercise abound at the park. One thing to consider if you do plan to run on the park roads is to be aware of the very winding nature of the main park road. A few times we had to be cautious of traffic due to limited visibility around the many curves. Also, most of the trails are flat and soft underfoot and would make for excellent trail running.
Finally, we are giving a 5 out of 5 for Workability as the bandwidth for AT&T was very good, with Verizon being stellar. Using an iPhone 10, we had speeds of 26.9 Mbps down and 7.05 Mbps up on AT&T, making it very easy to work. Using our Verizon Jetpack 8800L MiFi, we experienced incredible speeds of 105 Mbps down and 11.5 Mbps up – some of the fastest LTE speeds we’ve seen at any Florida State Park. This made working remotely effortless in terms of bandwidth.
Overall, we thought Silver Springs State Park was an excellent value and would stay here again. We could easily work remotely and exercise, and the hiking was very good. The campground quality, privacy and spacious campsites, many 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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