Beneath the Surface at Silver Springs
It’s a Florida twist on the classic question: Is the glass-bottom boat half empty or half full? Well, if it’s a glass-bottom boat at Silver Springs State Park, it’s full of people having fun.
Just east of Ocala, Silver Springs is one of the world’s largest artesian springs, gushing up to 550 million gallons of clear water to form the Silver River, a 4.5-mile-long tributary that feeds the Ocklawaha River and eventually the St. Johns. Glass-bottom boats were invented and launched here in the 1870s, and in the 1920,s a pair of developers created what became the Silver Springs theme park, considered by many as Florida’s first tourist attraction.
Animal exhibits, rides, and a water park joined the glass-bottom boats over the years. But when competition from a new theme park a few miles south caused visitor numbers and revenue to plummet, the state bought the land in the 1980s, created Silver River State Park, and leased the springs and attraction to a private company.
In 2013, state park officials took over, and Silver Springs State Park was born. Emphasis shifted to nurturing the land and restoring the springs’ former volume and clarity. Nature is the main attraction now, but the former theme park’s popular glass-bottom boats remain a star feature.
Downstream, the rest of the 4,000- acre Silver Springs State Park embraces the river itself. Hiking, camping, and biking are popular, but the premier experience is canoeing or kayaking. Keep an eye out for the park’s critters. You might see nine-banded armadillos, white-tailed deer, wild boars, wild turkeys, foxes, American alligators, Sherman’s fox squirrels, gopher tortoises, coyotes, bobcats, and even Florida black bears.
Want to start an argument? Offer your story of how rhesus monkeys established a home in the park and its environs. One popular version says they escaped while Tarzan movies were being filmed here, as were TV shows such as “Sea Hunt” and the movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Others say boat tour operator “Colonel Tooey” turned the monkeys loose on an island in the late 1930s, and that the skilled swimmers quickly spread out. No matter who wins the argument, all visitors have a ball watching for the monkeys.
Other interesting sites to visit at Silver Springs State Park include the Silver River Museum & Environmental Education Center, a late-1800s pioneer “Cracker” settlement, and a 1930s one-room schoolhouse in which African American students attended classes during the days of segregation.
No fishing is allowed on the Silver River. But you can watch the fish and see fossils, turtles, alligators, and myriad birds from your seat on a glass-bottom boat.
Park Details
Silver Springs State Park is open seven days a week, including all holidays, from 8 a.m. to sundown. Glass-bottom boat tours of 30 minutes are available 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Extended tours are offered Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Canoe, kayak, and stand-up paddleboard rentals are also available daily. You can bring your own kayak, as well.
2-hour paddling tours led by expert guides are also offered three times daily, at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1:30 p.m.
For pricing and other details, call (352) 261-5840 or visitthe Silver Springs website.
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