Poe Springs Park is located in High Springs, Florida, 25 miles northwest of Gainesville. This is…read morejust one of a bunch of swimmable springs in the area making it a hassle-free visit. For $6 per passenger vehicle (cash only), hike 1/4 of a mile on a boardwalk pathway to reach a natural oasis of crystal-clear, 72 degree waters. When the sun is shining, Poe Springs lights up like out of a storybook moment from paradise. The olive waters can appear so strikingly translucent, I was deeply thinking how lucky I felt to be surrounded by it all. Next to Poe Springs is the Santa Fe River where you can continue swimming or get out on kayaks and paddle boards. There's even a tree with rope for swinging into the river. Near the front entrance are all-day tube rentals for $10. They have a concession stand to buy lunch or guests can bring their own food and barbecue underneath picnic pavilions. Overall, if you visit Poe Springs in the middle of the day when the sun is shining brightly, I believe you will be mighty impressed. Getting to swim among sparkling clear green waters makes for a rewarding experience within the heart of nature.

Nice local park near the big springs. It is a short walk to the spring area. I'm bias because not…read morethe biggest fan of any park with a walk to the water since I always bring a paddle board, but it's not a crazy walk. The springs area is small, and the water is not as clear as most of the springs are. In general it is nice park to do a bbq in. Entry fee: $6 per car Bbq grills: yes Must be out of the water by 7:30pm Park closes at 8pm

One of our top 5 favorite springs to visit, perfect for the family and great spot to visit when you…read moretrying to cool down from the sun. You can rent kayaks here and go down the Santa Fe. Lots of parking but sometimes can reach capacity on the weekends. No inflatable floats in the spring is kind of lame but you can bring noodles.

This is a small and very accessible park that has one swimming hole open currently. It was quite…read morewarm the day we were there and don't was pretty crowded. Water is a bit chilly but you get used to it. The blue hole (spring source) is about 20-25 feet down - a pretty easy snorkel. Not a lot of current. Shallow areas are good for kids and there is kayak/canoe rentals to paddle downstream to the Santa Fe River. Bathrooms were a bit disgusting. Smelled of raw sewage. A good place to spend a few hours.

Such beautiful grounds hiding within Gainesville! We had a wonderful time taking advantage of the…read moretrails and stairs to the bottom of the sinkhole! It's a great spot for those who - Want a nice, but non strenuous walk (about a mile around in circle. The stairs are a bit more but there are stops between levels) Wonderful shading with a sweet bird filled environment. Non busy area out of the hustle of life

I love this place. The change in temperature within the sinkhole is so fascinating, as is the…read morewildlife you find in the basin. A very beautiful place, I recommend it.

Rum Island Springs County Park is located in the Fort White/High Springs area of North Central…read moreFlorida, 28-miles from Gainesville. It's $5 entry per vehicle and hours are 8am - 7pm daily. Rum Island is a tucked away natural springs pool that's catered towards younger crowds (imo) with mostly shallow waters. There's a row of buoys separating the springs from the Santa Fe River. Visits here can be real quick, under an hour unless you're launching kayaks or barbecuing with family for the day. The white sands of the springs are crystal-clear most times throughout the day and the waters showcase vibrant aquamarine colors when the sun breaks from the clouds. There's even a turquoise limestone cavity that pumps out the pool's 72-degree spring waters. There are some opportunistic moments for worthwhile picture takings and recordings, but...Rum Island is so small and shallow that it feels like standing in the center of the kiddie springs at a waterpark. As much as I enjoyed the views, I felt out of place. It wasn't my favorite Florida springs park to visit, but I still respect it for its scenic surroundings. Finally, there are plenty of kayakers and paddle boarders floating past the springs. Visitors can leave their belongings anywhere on the grass. Overall, I'm glad I got a glimpse into what Rum Island Springs Park is about, which has me motivated to visit the local gold standard benchmarks...Ichetucknee Springs, Ginnie Springs and Gilchrist Blue Springs.

Although the spring is nice, parking is horrible. The park has no one enforcing proper parking and…read morepeople will block you in, block the road. It is a nightmare. Definitely need some regulation here.

This is a historic CCC park! Lots of great trails and campgrounds. Close to many other springs and…read morewithin minutes to some places of interest outside the park!

I normally do beach camping but when your friends ask you to camp in the woods you gotta do what…read moreyou gotta do. It was so fun, though I miss my sunset/sunrise beach fun. O'leno state park is a big park 1.5 hours from Jacksonville's northside, so it's pretty close. The campsites are well maintained, big and pretty level for tents and RV camping. Plus they have water and electricity. One of my must haves when camping is a nice bathroom and good showers. Luckily every state park I've camped has had big, clean bathrooms with disability access showers and O'leno is no different. Winner winner chicken dinner. It's cool waking up in the morning to all the birds, several barn owls were heard too. The trails are varied, walk along the river or through the limestone scattered trails, it's all awesome! Oh and it's close to Ichetucknee so you can easily go do the springs too. O'leno's river is rusty looking because of the tanin but it's still good for swimming. If you like camping in the woods, seeing fireflies, millions of stars and a good hike among friendly campers this place is definitely worth visiting. The only downside is the ticks...had to throw that in for full disclosure.

Fantastic river experience. River guide Chloe was very knowledgeable about the plants, animals, and…read morehistory of the area. The two springs and the river between them are breathtakingly beautiful.

Go Kayaking every year. Always awesome. Always have had good weather and great experiences.read more

Been going here since I was in college and came back for the first time in years. The staff is…read morefriendly and accommodating. The springs are absolutely gorgeous! There are about 8 boils/spring openings. Easily walkable to float and walk back to your start. You can also do a short float with small children that lasts about 10 minutes and is a 5 minute walk back to your start (Devils Spring to Ginnie Spring). Great memories and a great place to cool off in the summer. You can rent tubes, snorkel equipment, and life vests.

We came out Ginnie Springs with a large group over the course of 4 days. Some stayed the whole time…read moreand others came for a night or two. We were celebrating several birthdays while we were out here, which made the overall camping trip a blast. When compared to another campsite's this one is a bit more expensive that what is typical. It's $25 just to enter the park for the day and $40 to stay the night in a basic tent. Fortunately, our friends who planned the whole trip brought their modified truck turned camper; three enclosed 20' x 10' and two 10' x 10' enclosed tents; and three portable AC units with a multitude of other electronics including a huge blowup screen and projector so we could rock out through the evening. I have no idea what they paid for the water and power site for four days but I'm sure it wasn't cheap, plus they rented three camp sites and a golf cart so we could all get around with our tubes. Some of the downsides were: this is a privately owned park so there are more stringent rules/regulations. They shut us down at 12am and basically told us we couldn't have any lights on or music playing and we would need to keep our voices down. Not like we were getting out-of-hand, but it put a damper on our party. The restrooms are not super clean and are not maintained really well. They had toilet paper, soap, and running water, but the toilets were not cleaned for days, and the shower drains were backing up. There were also dirty clothes and towels left in the men's shower for days. Be sure to bring plenty of toiletries, sanitary wipes, disposable gloves, and wear sandals in the showers. The tubing experience was fun. We brought our own tubes and it takes about an hour to ride start to finish. The water had a lot of algae bloom's floating around which is weird. We were covered in it on the first day and because of it, I declined going a second time. Regardless, the water was nice and cold and very refreshing on a hot July day. It rained several times during our visit. If you do decide to stay, here be prepared to clean dirt out of every crevice for the next week. It took me about 4 hours to clean my vehicle, shoes, and other odds and ends when we got home. Staff were overall friendly. Even though we were told to tone things down a bit they did it in a kind way. I don't know if I would come out here again to camp because it's 3-hours away from home and it's a lot of stuff to take when staying for just a night or two. I would still recommend them if you're looking for a fun spot to camp where tubing is offered.

Nice Park. my boys enjoy the skate park . It is very clean. The water play area is great in the…read moresummer

Okay now I'm a big skatepark guy, and this place is nice. I used to come here alot when I was…read moreyounger for the splash pad but I stopped going when I got older. But this place is nice. They redid the skatepark sometime I don't know when but it's still amazing. The spot isn't too extreme just a couple half pipes, ramps, rails, and tabletops, but if you're a skater, scooter, Rollerblade anything this is a nice spot would recommend if you're in the area.

Time travel back to 1857 and a real working farm…read more The parking area is out by the barn and kearning center theres a gift shop too! I bought a hand made bird house. The land is lovely, and Im sure the walk to the house is awesome but my knees werent up to it quite yet.

We were looking for an easy and close activity around Gainesville for our family. This working farm…read morewas perfect. We found easy parking under the shade of some trees and started at the visitors center where we learned about how the Dudley family donated their farm to the state to preserve it. We picked up a self-guided tour map and explored the farmstead. We enjoyed the turkeys the best. The Tom (also named Tom) was in full display. There is a little gift shop behind the visitors center and we had fun chatting with the staff. It was a delightful walk back in time.

There is a lot to like about this park: lots of playground equipment, nice gazebos with picnic…read moretables, and plenty of shade. Hopefully as they continue to develop the park they will add permanent bathrooms (right now it is port-a-potty only), and clean it more regularly. Often when we visit, there is significant amounts of litter on the ground from irresponsible visitors. We are looking forward to the upcoming addition of a splash park here.