Traveling America By Van: Three Florida State Parks to Visit
By: John Kumiski
Florida can boast of a river that behaves in a most unusual fashion. The Santa Fe River starts at Santa Fe Lake, flows towards the Gulf of Mexico for a while, and then disappears into a large sinkhole at a place called River Sink. Suddenly it's gone!
The river actually flows through limestone caverns for three miles before reappearing on the surface at River Rise, in River Rise Preserve State Park. The two parks share a boundary. Hiking trails connect the two parks, so one can hike along the river to River Rise or River Sink, then hike overland to the other feature. This walk requires a six-mile round trip.
The swamp azaleas, Florida's only native azalea, were blooming during our visits to the three parks.
During our recent visit, Susan and I walked the river trail in O'Leno State Park (High Springs, FL), not making that six-mile walk. Our path was a mile-and-a-half, and took us to and around River Sink. The swamp azaleas were blooming, adding delightful visual and olfactory textures to our walk. Sinks and seeps dot the entire area. Stately cypress trees and knees grow next to and in the river. A suspension bridge, built in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers, spans the river upstream of River Sink. This park's beauty easily justifies a visit! The park has campsites for those wishing an extended stay.
Anglers may be more interested in the river downstream of River Rise. In a recent article in On the Fly South (https://ontheflysouth.com/river-bass-on-floridas-santa-fe/), Jimmy Jacobs extols the fly fishing opportunities for panfish and black bass in the lower river. I would have loved to try it, but our travel schedule did not allow me the time. It's on my list, though.
Did you know Florida has caves you can walk through? At Florida Caverns State Park (Marianna, FL) you can take a one-hour long cave tour through caverns that were made passable by CCC workers. You'll see stalactites, stalagmites, and other fantastic underground mineral growths.
Our guide Joni shares information during the Florida Cavern tour.
Your tour guide will tell you the history of the caverns, and how the sights you see were formed. There may be a bad joke or three. You will go more than 60 feet below the earth's surface. On our tour, some of the guests wore flip-flops on their feet. It's a cave, folks- wear practical shoes! The CCC workers carved enough rock out that you stay upright the entire time- no sliding like a worm through constricted passages.
When we visited the tours were running every fifteen minutes, and about 15 people were on each tour. The tours are educational and entertaining, and at $11.50 per person, very reasonably priced. A small but worthwhile museum on-site reinforces concepts learned during the tour. Florida Caverns State Park also has campsites, although they were full during our visit and we stayed elsewhere.*
This plaque shares a short history of Falling Waters State Park.
The last park in our little tour is Falling Waters State Park. Florida largely lacks topography, so trying to brag, "I've been to Florida's highest waterfall!" at a party might only get you blank stares. And the 73 foot drop the water makes surely won't make anyone forget Niagara Falls.
The reason the water has 73 feet to drop is because it falls to the bottom of a deep, almost cylindrical sinkhole. The entire area around the falls is practically littered with sinkholes. And the falls are on one of Florida's highest hills, over 300 feet!
One of Florida's first oil wells was dug here. The drillers went down almost a mile without finding oil, and finally gave up. The well is capped now, and a boardwalk takes you past the site.
The water falls over a ledge and plunges into a sinkhole.
This park also has camping, but we did not stay here. The sites were all full when I tried to make reservations.
So, there you have three unique parks in Florida that don't get the visitation of some others, but are certainly worth the visit. Falling Waters and Florida Caverns are maybe 30 minutes drive apart and could both be visited in one day. O'Leno is about three hours drive east of the others, but River Rise Preserve is adjacent to it.
Get out and see the REAL Florida!
Self-portrait of the happy travelers, Susan and John, at Falling Waters.
*We camped at the Moonpie Farm and Creamery (https://www.facebook.com/Moonpie-Farm-Creamery-382975498973356/) in Cottondale. The road noise off I-10 is quite noticeable, but Elizabeth is one of the gentlest souls you'll ever meet. Her farm has swine, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, dogs, and honeybees, and is COOL COOL COOL! You can buy cheeses, jams, eggs, and other products she produces right there. Highly recommended
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