02-16 and 02-17-2019 Two days on the Rainbow River

Current Location: Oleno State Park, High Springs, Florida

Foggy, overcast and 69 Degrees F at 8AM

We were so incredibly lucky that during the 3 days we had at Rainbow Springs, the weather cooperated beautifully for us to spend time on the river. So many of our friends who have kayaked in this part of Florida have talked about  this river and encouraged us to enjoy it.  This river and the beautiful Rainbow Springs are one of the reasons we came to Florida once again enduring all those long miles across the country.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we drove the car from our campsite the 1/4 mile or so to the unloading area, and then with the help of a nice wooden cart provided by the park, hauled the boats down to the launch site.  The morning was quiet, and our plan to paddle upriver to the springs and then take our time floating back down was perfect.

There are houses all along the west bank of the river, almost to the boundary of the state park land at the spring, but the east bank is still wild and open, and the houses don’t seem to interfere with the wildlife much.  We saw no alligators or manatees on either day that we kayaked the Rainbow, and people said it might be due to the warmer weather.  The manatees have no need to come up to the springs to get warm.

During the first part of our upriver paddle, we shared the waters with several water taxis, ferrying divers to the many springs that feed the river on both sides.  We had to be careful to find a place to paddle that didn’t have a floating flag with divers beneath us.  The river is so very clear that it is incredibly popular for diving. 

It was an easy paddle upstream, with the current not strong enough to make it very difficult and it only took us about 60 minutes to get to the spring, and we were dawdling most of the way. The spring was beautiful, with a lovely swimming area roped off, and some interesting plants around the perimeter.  The elephant ears are beautiful and dramatic, but definitely not a native plant here in Florida.

Rainbow Springs State Park has an interesting configuration.  The campground isn’t anywhere near the spring, and requires a 7 mile drive to get from one to the other, even though it is only a couple of miles to the spring from the campground launch.

We thought we might like to drive to the spring and swim, but on our next day thought better of that plan and decided instead to kayak the Rainbow downriver, not quite sure if we would make it all the way to the Withlacoochee River where the Rainbow ends.

On that first day, we decided to paddle beyond our launch point to test the current and take a look at what the river was like going downstream.  I am so incredibly glad that we did this, since I found a gorgeous white spider lily in full bloom tucked away in a quiet cove. 

The next day when we passed the same cove, the leaves were there, but the lilies were gone.  I have no clue if someone picked them or if they only bloom for a day, but I couldn’t find another one in bloom on the entire length of the river.

We also were fascinated by the beautiful cypress Madonnas.  Of course, these are really cypress knees, but they looked so much like a group of Madonnas, blessing us as we passed.

We turned around after a short distance downstream, and returned to the campground launch.  Just a couple of hundred feet from the launch there is a large wooden boat rack.  We decided that it would be OK to leave our boats on the rack, locked up tight, and we carried our paddles and vests back to the car with plans to kayak the river downstream the next day.

That afternoon we thought it might be nice to go check out the possible landing site at the bridge in Dunnellon.  Once parked we found a beautiful park that had a paved trail running parallel to the river.  It was a lovely place to walk, and we enjoyed the Saturday afternoon ambience of families walking with dogs and strollers along the lovely path. Home to the MoHo, we celebrated the gorgeous day and beautiful evening with steaks on the grill and dinner outside at the picnic table.

We had a plan!  For once there was a way to figure out how to paddle the river without having to paddle upstream all the way back.  This can get pretty complicated with only two people, two vehicles, and only one that can carry the kayaks.  Our plan was made possible by the nice locking racks back at our launch site at Rainbow Springs Campground.

Early in the morning we packed up the motorhome and drove the car and the MoHo south to Dunnellon where there is parking and a boat launch.  Leaving the Tracker at the launch, and making sure that we did remember to keep our paddles and life vests with us, we headed back to camp with the MoHo.

We were on the river by 9:30 and enjoyed the delightfully easy paddle downstream with the current. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, with only a few puffy clouds to enhance the skies.  We saw lots of people on the river, fewer divers on this lower section, but surprisingly, many people were on paddle boards, and even some little dogs on paddleboards and in kayaks.  We had been warned over and over about little dogs in kayaks where there are alligators, but I guess these folks knew better than we did that there weren’t any alligators around in spite of the warning signs.

After a couple of hours of gentle paddling and drifting, we passed Swampy’s Grille on the river, filled with people laughing and enjoying the music and the summer day in February.  Just beyond Swampy’s is the landing, and we decided that we would continue past the landing to see how far we could go.  We agreed on an hour downstream, thinking the paddle back up wouldn’t be too difficult if we didn’t go too far.

In just 55 minutes we noticed the water getting really dark, and it was a surprise after the crystal clarity of the Rainbow.  What we didn’t realize was that we were already on the tannin stained blackwater of the Withlacoochee River. 

As we turned around and paddled back to the confluence of the two rivers, it was amazing to see the sharp line between the clear Rainbow and the dark Withlacoochee. I could see it clearly with my eyes, but because I didn’t have my polarizer lens with me, the photos only show reflections on the water.  The water to the left of the boat is the Rainbow and the water to the right of the boat is the Withlacoochee.

The boat launch at the bridge in Dunnellon was crowded but the surface is covered by a nice rubber mat, and there are railings with handles that makes getting out of the boats an easy task.  There is no explanation for the moment when Mo twisted her knee getting out of the boat.  It hurt a lot when it happened, and I managed to get the boats up to the loading area, while Mo gingerly walked along the railing to one of the benches.  For some reason, after half an hour or so, the incredible pain completely went away and it was as if it had never happened at all. Mo helped me load the boats without a problem, and we were both amazed that she seemed to be OK.

It had been a near perfect day on the river, but it was mid afternoon and we were hungry!  Back to the car, we found a station and gassed up the Tracker, then wandered around historic Dunnellon for a bit, enjoying the murals.  The town has a historic district that included the old train depot right on Highway 41 that bisects the small town.

We drove back across the bridge and found a parking space at the very crowded lot at Swampy’s.  It took just 20 minutes or so to get a table in what was called the “picnic area”, and once settled in we were grateful for the big umbrella for some shade. The afternoon was HOT!

People around us were swimming and laughing and drinking and it felt like a great summer day. Mo’s hamburger was wonderful, and her fries were perfect.  I opted for a shrimp ceviche salad and was seriously disappointed since the shrimp was flavorless and the lettuce was limp iceberg.  Ah well, can’t win them all, and I am nowhere near the Gulf shrimp heaven I loved back in Apalachicola.

I would still recommend Swampy’s for the ambience of the river, and all the kayakers that stop there, and the fun of the place.

Our time at Rainbow Springs was about as perfect as it could be, except for the big kerfuffle at the end of our kayak trip that turned out to be worse than we thought.  Next up.  Emergency Room for Mo.