26 June 2017
Silver Springs State Park is actually two parks. One part is composed of the old Silver Springs tourist area with glass bottom boats and the other part, separate, is a regular state park, originally known as Silver River State Park. The state acquired Florida’s first tourist attraction (Wikipedia) in 2013 and combined both parks to form Silver Springs State Park.
For some reason, I woke around 3:45 am completely refreshed and ready to go hiking. I made breakfast (dehydrated granola, berries, nuts with milk powder – just add water) had two cups of coffee and dawdled long enough that I was on the trail by 8 am.
My first hike was the Sinkhole Trail which forms a loop while intersecting with several other trails. The Sinkhole Trail itself is a 2.2 mile loop with no view of a sinkhole.
Just as I started down the trail, a sign indicated the park had bears and they recommended bear spray. Mine was back in the car so I hoofed it back and added it to my pack. It was a good thing I did because I saw bear sign of rotten logs being ripped apart for insects grubs.
About half way along the trail I ran into a buck and doe whitetail deer. They were totally curious about me and unconcerned.
Later that day when I went into town to get some supplies, a doe with a fawn crossed in front of me. The fawn was so tiny, at first I thought it was a very small dog following the doe across the road.
The trail was nice and level, wide, and easily discerned and yet at the same time, poorly marked. You would come to an intersection of merging trails and one direction was clearly marked for one trail but you had to walk a ways down a trail leading from the intersection to see the next trail marker to see if you were on the correct path. It was almost as if you were required to walk the trail in one direction only.
I was going to branch off to the Sandhill Trail from the Sinkhole Trail but a sign indicated a burn was in progress and the trail was closed. I later found out it was not. This seems to be a theme in this park. Another section was closed (a boardwalk) but someone I met later informed me it was fine – he just ignored the closed sign. The museum and all the old buildings for exhibition also said closed Monday-Friday for classes from the local school district – do not enter – with no one in sight.
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In any case, instead of the Sandhill Trail, I looped back and walked the Swamp Trail which had the closed boardwalk.
From there I looped back and walked the River Trail which takes you down by the Silver River where you can launch canoes and kayaks.
The Swamp Trail is a 1.9 mile loop and the River Trail is a 1.9 mile loop, none of which were the correct mileage according to my GPS. According to their mileage, it was 5.4 miles of hiking. According to my GPS, it was more like 7.
I headed back to the cabin for an afternoon nap and then into town to purchase a few things. Silver Springs seems to merge into Ocala as I drove through and almost all the stores are set back from the road. You can only find the store by reading a sign near the road. For example, Lowes and Walmart were set so far back from the road you could not see them from the road.
If it doesn’t storm late this afternoon, a very big if, I’ll try the 4.5 mile bike loop off the River Trail. Tomorrow I plan to hike the closed Sandhill Trail loop and the head to the tourist trap and do a glass bottom boat ride.
Dinner tonight was at Fat Boy BarBQ, in business since 1970. It was very good barbecue with excellent sides of their baked beans and cole slaw. After I returned, I rode around the campgrounds. There are 10 cabins and 60 campsites. The campsites are well equipped but not very suitable for tent camping. Every park likes to put gravel down for rv’s and don’t realize tents don’t fair well on gravel.
No matter how many times I proofread these blogs, once I review them after posting, I always find typos. For some reason, this program likes to capitalize everything except after a period.
