Adventures in Silver River State Park

This was a great trip and I have so much to write about so I have decided to do two posts.  Today is:

PART I

Mid-morning last Thursday, we started on our adventure to Silver River State Park.  Located in North Central Florida, the park is designated as part of The Great Birding Trail and the Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage.










About the Park
The park has more than 10 natural communities including a wetland and swamp, an oak hammock and a pine forest that have trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding.  You can also canoe or kayak along the Silver River, one of the clearest rivers in all of Florida.

The Silver River originates at Silver Springs, one of the largest artesian spring formations in the world.  It produces nearly 550 million gallons of water a day.  The springs were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971.  Located at the springs is the Silver Springs Nature Theme Park which will become part of Silver River State Park in October of this year.

Silver River State Park is also home to a pioneer cracker village as well as a Museum and Environmental Education Center.  The center is operated by the Marion County School District and is only open to the public on weekends...and of course is "No Dogs Allowed".

Camping

Our Campsite

We arrived mid-afternoon to check in at our campsite.  All campsites at Silver River State Park are RV and/or tent sites, located on two loops, which means we had electric and water (very convenient since we take the AeroBed) as well as a fire ring, barbecue grill and a picnic table.  All the sites were very spacious.  You can also choose to rent a cabin within the park.

Guard Duty at our Campsite

Immediately upon our arrival we were greeted by the very brazen squirrel (from my post yesterday) who kept coming to drink from the leaky water spigot.  Other visitors to our campsite included cardinals, ravens, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-headed Woodpeckers and an opossum.

Hiking
We woke up bright and early Friday morning to the calls of all these different birds who were announcing the sunrise.  Unfortunately, the sun really didn't come out on Friday so we chose that day to go hiking on several trails.

Ma, me and Uncle Rob at the head of the River Trail

We started by hiking the 0.6 mile River Trail because Daddy-dog and Uncle Rob wanted to see if they could carry Uncle Rob's canoe down to the river.  It was a very nice hike and though it was quite easy and short, we decided that we would not be carrying the 3-man canoe up and down the trail.  (You can however rent canoes and kayaks from the park, which are located at the end of this trail by the river.  If you head out on your canoe from the end of this trail, it is 2 miles up to Silver Springs.)

Walking through the forest

Once we hiked back out from the river, we headed to the 2.2 mile Sinkhole Trail.  The first part of this trail takes you along the cracker village, where you can see the old pioneer style homes and buildings.  It then leads you into several habitats including sandhills, sand pine scrub and oak hammocks. 

On a break during our hike

Again, this trail was an easy one and though we didn't see any actual wildlife here (and there were signs telling you what to look for), we saw A LOT of white-tailed deer tracks (I gave those a few sniffs since I do like venison - I also "left my mark" on the Black Bear sign's post - just saying).

Uncle Rob in the sinkhole

Now, the Sinkhole Trail goes around a large sinkhole.  The sinkhole is pretty wide but is quite shallow (compared to what you think of when you think "sinkhole") - Uncle Rob hiked down into it and it was just like walking down a small hill.  We weren't even sure if we had found the sinkhole - BOL!

There are several other trails that we did not get to this time - the Sandhill Trail, the Swamp Trail, the Old Field Loop and the River Field Loop.  With all these trails, you hardly see anyone else while you are out and about, allowing you to really enjoy the natural habitats.

So happy to be on a hike

Now, be sure to come by tomorrow as I will be posting about our canoe trip down the river where we saw all kinds of wildlife...and yes, we even saw monkeys!  I'll give you all the details tomorrow.