I have no way to describe this place, except that its a little bit of paradise! As I write this post, nearly 4 months after we visited here, this has still been one of our top places!
We did not have a very long stay here. It only lasted about 3 days. But we would, hands down, visit again and stay longer.
Silver Springs is located about an hour from Orlando, Florida, so just a quick stop on our way out of Florida, after our Disneyworld stay.
Lets talk about the campground first…. HUGE sites! I think this has been the largest site we have stayed at. It’s has gravel sites, with large, beautiful trees. The area was very quiet and relaxing!
Our first evening, we learned the state park has monkeys. Yes, real, living monkeys! We never, sadly, saw them. But we hard them! Loud and clear!
The park also contains gators. These, however, hang in the waters…. which are not near the campsites. Phew!
Sooo…. why did we come to this campground? For the hot springs! We woke up, extra early, pulled out our little inflatable boat, and were out on the hot springs by sunrise! This experience was truly magical.
We saw exotic birds warming their wings in the morning sun. We saw slider turtles sunning on logs… and then “sliding” into the water when we came near. We saw multiple alligators warming up on the bank of the springs. And what we came for…. we saw manatees! They swam right beneath our tiny boat. They sure made us feel small! They really are like massive cows – harmless and gentle in the water but MASSIVE! They would come up and blow air out at us, and then sink back down lower.
After our three-hour boat ride, we returned back for naps and a nice hike on the park’s path. What an exotic place to experience!
This was our final Florida experience… and now it’s off to Alabama next!
