Padding Rainbow Spring

 Friday, February 10, 2023

Hi Blog!

One of the reasons we camped in Crystal River was to have a chance to paddle to the Three Sisters Spring. See the prior blog for more on that adventure. Now that we have accomplished that goal, it was time to find other fun things to do in the area. The campground manager suggested we paddle to Rainbow Spring. After a little research, we decided to launch from KD Park and paddle up to Rainbow Spring State Park.

The folks that run KD Park have made it their mission to rescue all the lost sunglasses that find themselves floating down the Rainbow River. Kathy briefly thought about adding her sunglasses to the collection, but soon realized she needed them to see!

The Rainbow River is located in Dunnellon, Florida. It is formed by a first-magnitude Rainbow Spring that is ranked fourth in the state for volume of discharge. In addition to the springs located at the headwaters, there are many smaller springs that discharge from numerous caves, rock crevices, and sand boils along the entire length of the river.

The Rainbow River is a gently winding river that is 5.7 miles long and merges with the Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon, Florida. The headwaters, Rainbow Springs, is the anchor for Rainbow Springs State Park. This first-magnitude spring is not one large vent but is numerous vents that issue 400 - 600 million gallons of crystalline water every day. 

It didn't take long before we started running into the locals. The Lesser Blue Heron is walking on a floating grass mat.

The wood ducks are one of the prettiest ducks we have encountered. The adult male has stunning multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. When we first saw one of these ducks on top of a bird box, we thought it was a fake decoy until it turned its head to look at us!

While the Rainbow River is not very wide, we still decided to paddle up one side and down the other. On the way up, we cruised the west side which was dotted with single residences with various types of boat ramps. This little guy fishing caught our eye.

We are expecting a cold front to blow through later today triggering thunderstorms. We got an early start to beat the rain. However, there was no escaping the wind. It made it difficult to see down into the beautiful turquoise water.

As we made our way up to the state park, we were passed by several outrigger canoes. In all our paddles, we have never seen this type of canoe except in the opening credits of Hawaii 5-0.

The looking-glass waters of Rainbow Springs come from several vents, not one large bubbling spring. The river itself supports a wide variety of fish, wildlife, and plants, many within easy viewing by visitors. In total, the park contains 11 distinct natural communities, including sandhills, flatwoods, upland mixed forests, and hydric hammocks.

After paddling around the swimming area, we started our return trip along the east side of the river. This side is fairly undeveloped. There are a few farms and the state park campground. As the day warmed, we noticed more and more turtles making themselves known.

After a morning of fishing, this female anhinga spends her time watching the kayakers pass by.

The fallen branch is not very big, but this turtle is making the most of it.

The Great White Egret stood motionless as we passed.

A cute little piebald duck swims by ---

--- while a cormorant stands guard.

The moorhen throws us some shade for disrupting its fishing.

The male anhinga shows off its beautiful wing pattern.

Just as we were about to finish our paddle, we noticed a couple kayaks head off into the woods. No sooner did they enter than two more popped out. We asked them how far the run went and they said about 500 feet.

We paddled in until we reached a gate across the creek.

We later learned that the run is called Indian Creek and it starts at a private spring known as Gissy Spring. Mr. Gissy was hoping to develop his Rainbow River Farm into a resort community. After much local uproar, Mr. Gissy scrapped his plans and now negotiations are underway for the state to acquire the ranch which would be the last piece of the east bank needed to connect the headwaters park to the park campground. So, in a few years, maybe folks will be able to paddle all the way into the spring.

Until next time.