Juniper Springs and the Cross Florida Greenway

I made it over to Juniper Springs, once a favorite campground of mine. But over the years the Ocala National Forest Park has deteriorated, not the campsites, but the park itself. The best part of the park was this wooden walkway that paralleled the river and was a way to really see the river for park users who were not paddling. The park had volunteers that repaired the rotting boards and it was always walkable. Then some bonehead park administrator decided to hire a contractor to repair it. The cost was very high and they did a few hundred feet and decided it should be totally replaced but they did not have the money to do that so they just closed it. Then they hired a contractor to run the canoe concession, manage the campsites and run the boat shuttle. So they now charge you to put-in, and only do pickups at the take-out rather than letting you run a car shuttle and paddle at your own pace.

Well, you know me, I don't follow rules, so we did our own shuttle since Erin & her friend Kathy both had cars, and Kathy's rack could hold my kayak as well as theirs.

I picked a campsite that I knew had a secret trail to the river that was easier to use then the pay-for boat launch.

The river was great, no one else on it and a few fallen trees that we had to duck under. The fast current helped, we paddled the 7 mi river in 3 hours. But it was a very cool day, Low 50's, so we saw no aligators and very few turtles.

I may skip this river on any future FL trips, but don't let my bad review stop you from trying the river at least one time.

I was cold and tired when I got back to camp and the temperature Wednesday morning was 35oF. I decided to skip paddling Silver Springs and just sleep-in, get some fuel and find a nice quiet campsite for the night. I pick a big Lowes store next to an Aldi's.

It was sunny and warmer on Thursday and just 3 mi from the Lowes was the Cross Florida Greenway, a paved trail that crosses over I-75. It has 4 underpasses for busy roads and only two road crossings on counry roads. It starts at Santos State Park and ends at FL-200. I did it the 16 mile trail from a Walmart on FL-200 to Santos and back. I peddled 32 1/2 miles in 3 hours and then headed to a Walmart in Dunellon for the night and hope to paddle on Friday with Erin & Kathy on the Rainbow Springs River.

I did think I saw someone who looked a lot like Peggy at the Land Bridge Crossing over I-75.