Silver Springs State Park–Ocala, FL

We loved this campground; the sites have a lot of space, and there are some pretty cool things to do in the area!

Campsite at Silver Springs State Park

Check in time is a little later (3p) than a lot of the other state parks, but they were very accommodating when we arrived at the ranger station at a little after 1p.  They gave us a pass to visit the main section of the park where the glass bottom boats are, so we stopped at the cafeteria there for lunch while we waited on our site to be available.  The burgers and fries there are pretty good!

The park has two main loops for camping, and the sites are very spacious.  There is a separate loop with cabins as well, and north of all of the camping areas is a museum, and a Florida Cracker pioneer village.

During our stay, we visited the northern section of the park, rode the glass bottoms boats, and got in a little hiking.  The highlight of the trip was our first time zip lining.  We’re going to have to come back, maybe in the spring, to go kayaking down the silver river.  I was hoping to see the wild monkeys on this trip, but we might have better luck if we head downstream.

Related Posts

Hiking the River Trail	Touring the Main Park
Zip Lining at The Canyons	Silver Springs Museum

Quick Stats

Website Fee Reservations Electricity Water Shower / Bathhouse Internet Access Lat, Long

$15 Yes (Reserve America) Yes Yes Yes Excellent 4GLTE 29.201018, -82.051326

Zip Lining in Ocala, FL

Andy and Tina Zip Lining

While camping at Silver Springs State Park, we stopped by The Canyons Zip Line and Canopy Tours.  Neither of us had done this before, and we had a blast!  We’ll definitely be doing this again.

Zip Lining in Ocala

The “Canyons” are actually the remains of an old phosphate mine – I think the mine closed sometime around 1930 – and the landscape is pretty gorgeous. 

The tour starts with some on-the-ground instructions and a demo zip-line that is only a few feet off the ground, to get everyone familiar with the equipment, and hand signals.  After that we were off and zipping.  There are two guides; one is there to send us off, and the other goes ahead to meet us on the other end.

The guides did a great job – I’d encourage everyone to check this spot out if you’re in the area.