As I walked under the beautiful sign welcoming me to the park, I knew I was about to experience wild Florida at Silver Springs as I had done in years past when Silver Springs was a tourist attraction and before it was a state park.
Glass Bottom Boats
Stepping aboard a glass-bottom boat tour at Silver Springs feels a bit like stepping back in time. As Florida’s oldest attraction, the world-famous Glass Bottom Boats showcase the crystal-clear springs and underwater life that naturally inhabit Silver Springs. It is a chance for you to experience wild Florida. When the boats first launched at Silver Springs, they quickly became one of Florida’s first bona fide tourist attractions.
Visitors have enjoyed the world-famous Glass Bottom Boats at Silver Springs since the 1870s with breathtaking views of underwater life and the many springs that feed the Silver River. Take a tour aboard one of the historic Glass Bottom Boats and marvel at the beauty and sheer size of Mammoth Spring, the river’s head spring.
Glass bottom boat rides and Boat tours run every 30-45 minutes from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. You can go online to make reservations. Rides are $13 for adults, and $12 for seniors (over 55) and youth (under 12), while children under 6 years old ride free.
ABC Paramount purchased Silver Springs in 1962, and Silver Springs prospered as a tourist attraction. When I was a kid, growing up in nearby Gainesville, we were in for a treat if we visited Six Gun Territory or Silver Springs. I can remember visiting the zoo here and attending concerts at Twin Oaks Mansion.
In 1971, a mouse (Disney) came to call in the Florida attractions marketplace just south of Orlando, then a whale, and later, Universal Studios. This led to a steady decline in attendance. Silver Springs became a state park in October 2013 when the state took over the famous spring attraction preserving one of the most beautiful areas of Florida’s natural beauty anywhere.
The goal is to bring the area back to a natural setting. Gone are the zoo-like enclosures where animals such as bears, Florida panthers, alligators, and more were once housed and exhibited. Ross Allen’s reptile shows have closed the curtain. The Jeep safaris are a relic of the past. The huge tourist parking lot is mostly vacant. It is almost an eerie feeling.
Hollywood comes to Florida
In the 1930s, Hollywood discovered Silver Springs. Throughout the years, scenes from at least 20 movies were filmed here, including Legend starring Tom Cruise, three James Bond movies including Thunderball, Moonraker, and Never Say Never Again, Rebel without a Cause starring James Dean, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Cross Creek starring Mary Steenburgen, and six Tarzan films. If you look closely around the park, you’ll find a few movie props that have been left here from the Hollywood days.
Episodes of television shows such as Sea Hunt were filmed at Silver Springs as well. In fact, legend has it that Sea Hunt star Lloyd Bridges learned to SCUBA dive here! The Dock in the Sea Hunt television series still remains. More than 100 episodes of Sea Hunt were filmed here.
Paddling Silver Springs State Park
Kayaking Silver Springs is truly an amazing journey. You have the possibility of sighting manatees, wild monkeys, alligators, and beautiful water birds. The mainspring pumps out up to 550 million gallons of crystal-clear water a day. To launch your own personal kayak or paddleboard will cost $4 plus the $2 admission fee for the state park. If you’d like to rent a vessel here at the park, you can either rent by the day or by the hour. To launch, pull into the far end of the parking lot to unload.
Wandering the Gardens
The mainspring is surrounded by serene gardens and historic structures. As you wander through the lush gardens, you can see reminders of the park’s past and history.
Wildlife at Silver Springs
Silver Springs is one of the largest upward-flowing springs ever discovered, making it the perfect spot to scope out many species of fish, manatees, turtles, alligators, and vegetation in the crystal-clear waters beneath the boats and on the shore. Here, the birdlife is plentiful! During our visit, we saw many aquatic and woodland birds.
Encounters with wildlife may occur on the walking trails. You may even spot alligators, bobcats, foxes, black bears, and even rhesus monkeys that call this park home. For that reason, they have signs around the park warning visitors not to feed the monkeys. The monkeys came here for a Jungle Cruise attraction in 1938. A couple of hundred of these primates now roam the Silver Springs area. I did not get a chance to see any but have seen pictures of these primates on the trails near the river.
The Ross Allen Boardwalk
Later we took a walk on the 1600-foot boardwalk that leads to Ross Allen Island. Ross Allen founded the Reptile Institute at the Silver Springs tourist attraction where he conducted research and created snake anti-venom. In addition to alligators, he wrestled anacondas for entertainment. Allen combined education with entertainment, handling venomous snakes in front of audiences, but he also spoke to people about medical advances from that venom.
By state park standards, this is probably one of the prettiest state parks in Florida, but walking through the park brought back some almost ghostly memories of the attraction in its heyday as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. It is still here and waiting for your long overdue visit. If you listen, you can hear the sound of distant birds echoing along the river.
Silver Springs is located just east of Ocala in North Central Florida’s Marion County.
Hours: 8 am to sundown, 365 days per year Cost: $2 per person, Main Entrance: 5656 E Silver Springs Blvd, Silver Springs, FL 34488
Another spring just down the road is Juniper Springs Recreation Center which is less than 30 minutes east on State Road 40. It is another beautiful area. It will make you feel like you stepped into a fairy tale with its Old Mill House and Fern Hammock Springs bridge. Juniper Springs is truly a magical place.
