Silver Springs State Park, Ocala, Florida

What do Tarzan the Ape Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Rebel without a Cause, Never Say Never Again, Legend, and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 have in common? Scenes from each of the movies were filmed at Silver Springs State Park! 🎥

If that wasn’t enough to make us want to go there, they also have glass bottom boat tours, and Monkey Island! We decided to take a drive and head out for a new adventure! I mean how can we not want to go to a place called Monkey Island? 🐒

After we paid for admission and bought our boat tour tickets, we decided to go into the Discovery Center until it was time for the boat tour. We were so excited to see one of the costumes from the Creature of the Black Lagoon!!! It was a pleasure to meet Captain Oscar! Captain Oscar was the lead boat tour captain and has worked for the park for over 50 years. There were also some interesting displays and a few fun snakes! 🐍

King Snake:

On the glass bottom boat tour, we rode over the most beautiful, crystal clear, turquoise water. The bottom was over 35 ft. deep and we could still see it clearly. It looked closer to 5 ft. deep! We watched the tilapia and other fishies swim, viewed the creature’s cave from the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and watched the water bubble up from the springs below. Our favorite was watching the soft-shelled turtle look around below us.

Creature from the Black Lagoon Cave:

Soft Shell Turtle in the Springs:

We also watched an alligator swim by, and then we saw some crazy kayakers get close to it. It was getting close to lunchtime, so maybe they were offering to be the gator’s lunch. 🤣🤣🤣 The boat ride took us past some of the most beautiful scenery and we really enjoyed it.

Gator at Silver Springs:

After the boatride, we had a nice time walking through the park. Along one of the trails, we saw an anhinga preening and drying it’s wings after it took a dip in the water for a bite to eat. It was so neat to hear it’s call! 🥰

Anhinga video:

We were very happy to find the gardens! It features native Florida plants and ornamentals. We loved identifying the Oleander, Lion’s Tail, Plumbago, and the Split-leaf Philodrendon. There were many more beautiful varieties, and I picked up some neat ideas for around our house. 💐

Next we decided to take a walk along the Ross Allen Boardwalk Loop to go to Monkey Island (not the official name, but it’s what everyone calls it). It’s a beautiful boardwalk path with plenty of places to rest and enjoy the call of the birds. We really enjoyed the river and would love to take a kayak tour sometime. Did we see monkeys that day? No. I was pretty bummed, but it was a hot day and they weren’t very active where we were. But that’s ok, because we got to see where 6 different Tarzan films were made! How cool is that??? 🐵

Silver Springs State Park:

Monkey Island Reel:

If you’re into kayaking, you can rent kayaks there and take a paddle down the Fort King Paddle Trail. It looks like a great time and they even offer guided tours! But please stay away from the alligators! Seriously, they will attack if provoked! 🐊

Kayaking at Silver Springs State Park:

A few tips for those who would like to go there sometime:

The park is definitely less crowded during the week. However, the The Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center are only open on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Bring water. It was pretty hot the day we went, so we were glad to have something to drink to stay hydrated.
There is not a swimming area in the Silver River. This is to preserve the river.
Fishing is not allowed in the Silver River. 🐟
There is a restaurant and ice cream shop near the Discovery Center.
Wear comfortable shoes. There are lots of trails to explore!
You are not guaranteed to see monkeys on the island. We didn’t, but it was still a great time!🙂

After a very busy day, we drove back to plan another adventure! There are a lot of wonderful places to see, and we have more exploring to do! 🚗

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