AN EXPERIENCE YOU WILL NOT FORGET!

The Silver River near Ocala features some of Florida's most beautiful scenery and diverse wildlife. This short river with translucent blue springs has been described as magnificent and magical, but in 1873 Harriett Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin said it best with "There is nothing on earth comparable to it." The headwaters start at Silver Springs, the world's largest natural artesian spring which produces nearly 550 million gallons of water each day. Six miles downriver, the crystal clear Silver meets the tea-colored Ocklawaha River. Early in the morning, mist rises over spring-fed streams. Clear water runs gently through semi-tropical forests and moss-draped trees. The area that comprises the state park was purchased by the state in 1985 to maintain the natural environment of the area in the face of booming real estate development. The Silver River runs through the center of this 5,000-acre park. The spring head is still run by the private company "Silver Springs Nature Theme Park" but the rest of the entire 5 1/2 mile spring run is completely pristine and undeveloped.

Having been saved from the effects of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal  much of the Ocklawaha is, as it was hundreds of years ago, in its pristine natural beauty, totally unmarred by restaurants, marinas, gas pumps or waterfront homes.  Canoeists wind through narrow waterways lined with gnarly cypress, swamp maples and sable palms. Occasionally the river widens into lily pad filled ponds. The 110 mile long Ocklawaha River flows north from Central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is a corruption of ak-lowahe, Creek for "muddy". The source of the Ocklawaha River is Lake Griffin, part of the Harris chain of lakes in Lake County, Florida. The Ocklawaha River watershed includes parts of the Green Swamp, most of Lake County, and portions of Marion, Alachua and Putnam counties. The largest of several large lakes in the Ocklawaha's watershed is  Lake Apopka near Orlando.