Rainbow Springs State Park, located southwest of Ocala and three miles north of Dunnellon, is home to the river’s headspring, which feeds into one of the most beloved waterways in the state.

Visiting Rainbow Springs Florida

The Rainbow River has enjoyed a reputation as a scenic and popular playground since first opening in the 1930s as a private family-owned amusement park.

Years later, the State of Florida purchased the spring and became part of the Florida State Park System.

Rainbow Springs Park Rules

Florida has many rivers (and rules) – ranging from salty to muddy and from clear and fresh to dark and tannic.

Rainbow Springs River, the fourth largest in Florida and a tributary of the Withlacoochee River, could undoubtedly be called Florida’s natural swimming pool.

The white sandy bottom lies between areas of smooth limestone, creating a “pool” like effect.

Here, you share the water with turtles as they sunbathe on fallen logs, herons, and white ibis while feeding along the riverbank.

Children and adults float downstream in inner tubes or whatever objects serve as floatation devices.

It’s not uncommon to stop to jump off ropes tied to overhanging tree limbs. Slow-moving boats glide by — but no one is in a hurry to get anywhere.

The gentle current of the river dictates the pace as smaller springs bubble up and feed into the river. This creates plenty of areas to get out and swim.

The Rainbow Springs State Park

Situated on U.S. 41, Rainbow Springs has a rich history as one of the state’s most popular “old Florida” tourist attractions.

This area was once populated by prehistoric mastodons. It was later settled by Native Americans, who used the waterway for transportation and fishing.

In fact, this unique Florida destination experienced its heyday as a phosphate mining community.

By the 1970s, “real” Florida attractions, including Rainbow Springs, began losing their appeal. They started closing down as newer theme parks and an interstate highway system diverted traffic away.

Concerned citizens led an effort to save and preserve the 1,470-acre park. The State of Florida reopened Rainbow Springs as an official state park in 1995.

While at the Park

As you enter Rainbow Springs, signs direct you to the entrance of the ranger’s office. Ask for a map and take time for the walking tour.

Shady, fern-lined, hilly pathways with scenic vistas lead to elaborate, luscious green gardens.

There’s a roped swimming hole for those seeking a refreshing 72-degree dip.

Walkways and trails lead out to older waterfalls. The river also has plenty of areas for picnicking.

A Florida Roadside Attraction

Many Floridians recount the earlier park amusement days of glass-bottom boats that toured down the river. There was also a Leaf Ride Monorail that transported visitors through the treetops.

Following the walkways, you can still see the historical remnants of a zoo and even a rodeo arena.

Don’t Miss the Butterfly Garden

There is an outdoor butterfly garden – which, alone, is worth the price of admission.

The cost to enter Rainbow Springs State Park is only $2 per person. Children under 6 are admitted free.

Volunteers have done a fantastic job planting a wide variety of plants that attract many species of butterflies. Undoubtedly, this remains one of the best butterfly gardens in Florida.

Kayaking the Rainbow Springs River

If you want to kayak, you have several options. One choice is to rent a kayak/canoe at the Rainbow Springs Park.

However, since the current moves from the park headspring downstream – the paddle down the river later becomes a paddle back up the river.

Be sure to check out Get Up and Go Kayaking. A clear kayak tour is a great option for those who want to see below the surface of the water, but may not want to snorkel or swim.

Plus, it’s always wise to be led by an expert unless you are an experienced kayaker.

Here’s another recommended alternative: Begin your travels outside the state park at Marion County’s KP Hole Park.

It’s a five-minute drive from Rainbow Springs and an ideal launching spot for kayakers and tubers. Rental equipment and tubes are available there.

From KP Hole, the easy one-and-a-half-mile, one-hour upstream paddle to the state park lands you at the kayak/canoe landing area.

Here you find the main swimming hole, restrooms, and picnic tables.

If you start early, you’ll catch some shade on the east side of Rainbow Springs State Park.

What can you see when kayaking?

So, doing the work upfront, followed by a slow downstream cruise, is lots of fun.

The river is dotted with homes on one side and the state park on the other.

While floating along, you’ll be with others – paddlers, boaters, snorkelers, and, in the winter, manatees in search of warmer water.

If you wish, you can go directly to KP Hole Park where inner tubes are rented (which includes the return shuttle ride) for a 3 ½ mile, four-hour downstream ride, but in the opposite direction of the state park.

Tubers slowly drift down the river to Blue Run Park and get out there, where the shuttle returns tubers to KP Hole.

So, enjoy your time at this authentic Florida park. It’s packed with history, natural beauty, and recreation — all in one scenic package.

Here are a few more tips for your trip:

Looking for more?

DUNNELLON, Fla. (WCJB) - Dunnellon City Council members are sending a letter to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection opposing a potential hazardous railroad operation.

Track Line Rail LLC, a Texas-based railroad tie shredding company, wants to operate a shredding and grinding facility for rail ties treated with creosote.

They’ve filed a permit with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection requesting to operate the facility in unincorporated Marion County. Now, a motion has been approved unanimously to have the city of Dunnellon’s mayor sign a letter to send to the DEP in opposition.

“Too close for comfort,” shared concerned resident Robert Donnie Smith.

Smith was one of many at the packed city council meeting. The EPA considers creosote a hazardous chemical. It can potentially contaminate soil and water sources, like the Rainbow River.

“First of all, it’s going to affect the health of the individuals. It’s also going to affect property damage. It’s going to affect the environment as a whole,” said Smith.

But this isn’t the first city in North Central Florida this company has tried to operate out of. Newberry officials say they operated for months without permits until the city and DEP shut them down.

“What I encourage the people to do is stay together,” shared Ocala resident Jason Martin.

Martin lives in Ocala, but came to support Dunnellon residents as he lives next to a facility that grinds trees, so his biggest concern was the pollution.

“It’s supposed to be clean, unlike this proposed project. Just the sawdust fallout from the grinding project is debilitating, and I’ve been battling it for seven years with no help from DEP,” Martin said.

The county’s code enforcement has given the company two weeks to move its items off the property.

“Dunnellon is probably the best kept secret in that State of Florida, and come on down and enjoy the Rainbow River, and hopefully we’ll get this tire situation taken care of,” Smith shared.

Marion County Commissioner Kathy Bryant says even if the DEP approves the permit, they would have to have a special use permit approved by the county, so there are still many more hurdles the company has to jump through.

to subscribe to our newsletter.

The evening scene along the railroad tracks of Dunnellon looked apocalyptic to Bill White. Dark, wooden rail supports known as ties balanced in 10-foot stacks that stretched to the horizon.

“ I walked it for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, never got to the end of it,” he said. “It was like looking at some waste zone that has just been abandoned.”

Daytime brings a flurry of activity as railcars arrive and excavators unload old ties into the area’s grassy median.

They’re arriving in anticipation of a railroad tie grinding site planned by Texas-based Track Line Rail. The company tried to establish its first Florida site in Newberry earlier this year but left the city after regulators discovered its grinders were running without permits.

The company now plans to set up shop in Dunnellon. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection granted it preliminary permits earlier this month, but city leaders intend to intervene.

A different approach

When preparing his grinders in Newberry, Track Line CEO Dave Malay spoke to city staff before pursuing approval from FDEP.

He’s taking the opposite approach in Dunnellon.

The company submitted its application for an air permit for construction to FDEP in August, but city and county officials didn’t fully learn about the plans until this month. A spokesperson for Marion County said the county’s growth services team didn’t find any applications or reviews related to the site on which Track Line told FDEP it intends to operate.

That’s not a problem, said Chris Gilbert, the hazardous materials program manager for Alachua County who issued Track Line a cease and desist in May. Companies can generally apply for approvals in the order they prefer, he said, and since the lack of permits burned Track Line in Newberry, it makes sense the company is seeking those first.

But, since the company hasn’t been on meeting agendas, some residents feel it’s “a punch that you didn’t see coming,” said White. A former mayor and council member of Dunnellon, White is vice president of Rainbow River Conservation.

He worries about potential impacts to the river: an aquatic preserve and National Natural Landmark. The proposed grinding site is a little over half a mile away from one of its bends.

“I cannot think of any precautions that could be made that would make that acceptable,” he said. “Like all environmentally endangered procedures and processes, there is always a likelihood of failure.”

Railroad ties have a chemical coating to preserve and protect them from weather and insects. Creosote, a thick, black liquid derived from coal, is its main component. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency creosote as a probable human carcinogen but FDEP concluded the coated ties were after testing the company’s wood chips.

Still, the agency required the company to clean up its Newberry site before leaving given the analysis found high levels of some volatile organic compounds that were of concern to health and the environment, Gilbert said.

FDEP didn’t respond to WUFT’s request for comment about its analysis of the ties.

According to documents submitted for the company’s air permit, the grinding process could release up to 59 tons of tiny, airborne particles per year, more than the weight of a loaded 18-wheeler.

The smaller the dust particles, Gilbert said, the higher the concern.

While the body’s defenses fend off large particles, smaller ones can enter the lungs and, if they’re really tiny, the bloodstream.

“If there's any issues with the particulate that you're inhaling, then that becomes a health concern, no different than concerns you have with asbestos dust or coal dust or even silica dust,” he said.

Permit applications show the site expects to grind much less than it’s allowed to and to contain the dust using a canopy, an industrial version of the ones seen at beaches and soccer games.

Malay didn’t respond to WUFT’s inquiries.

The surrounding community

The company’s proposal raises concerns about environmental justice to Sarah Strohminger.

The Jacksonville resident and environmental advocate manages a food pantry in Dunnellon.

The proposed grinding site sits right behind the predominantly Black Chatmire neighborhood, she said, just outside of Dunnellon city limits.

About a quarter of residents within a mile of the site are people of color and almost half are low income, according to a demographic profile of the area from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Particulate matter is going to be super bad for kids who live near there,” Strohminger said. She posted her concerns on social media, noting there was a house just beyond the site’s treeline. A Dunnellon resident told her it was actually a community center used as a gathering place for the nonprofit Concerned Citizens for Chatmire, formed in 1992.

The proposed grinding site “is 125 feet from what this small community has put together for themselves in the absence of a municipal government or access to resources,” she said.

“As a former elected official, it doesn't make any difference if you're a poor person in a low income home or if you're in a multimillion-dollar house, the government has the right to protect you,” White said.

Dunnellon’s City Council seems poised to do just that.

Dunnellon doesn’t have jurisdiction over the property since it falls outside of city limits, but staff wrote a letter opposing Track Line’s draft air permit.

The council will vote whether to send it to FDEP during a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27.

“Our community should not bear the burden of deteriorated air quality for an industrial operation that provides no benefit to our residents,” it reads.

FDEP granted Track Line preliminary stormwater approval in September. Its air permit is in the draft stage. The deadline to request a public hearing for the permit is Oct. 31.