O'Leno SP. High Springs FL

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

Have reservations at the ONLY pullthru site at O'Leno SP for August 27 & 28. Plan to tube the Ichetucknee Springs river on the 28th and leave for home the 29th.
This was an annual July campout with first my son and then my grandson. When there were gaps of their availability I would take my Boy Scouts on the Memorial Day weekend.

Besides tubing there is really great canoing/kayaking on the Santa Fe river.

My dh is not on board with canoeing/kayaking (been accused too many times of only doing things I enjoy and not what dh wanted) so I plan on a late fall/early winter solo camping trip and carrying my 1 person sit-atop kayak.
By then, hopefully temps will be in the high 70s.
This area just north of Gainesville is the southern terminus of the Appalachians and the landscape is quite different from South Florida.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Oleno

https://www.floridastateparks.org/pa...ucknee-Springs

Santa Fe Conoe Outpost – Paddle the Santa Fe River

[jon carpenter]

We also have reservations for O'Leno SP but in early February. Haven't been there but it looks very interesting. Northern FL is where we really enjoy especially the Apalachicola NF area. This year we are also trying out Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center. But we'll camp most anywhere which is warmer than the mid-west in winter.

jon

[John in Michigan]

We stopped at O'Leno SP in Feb 2016 for 3 days. Some nice trails and most interesting thing is that the Santa Fe River suddenly goes underground here and then re-surfaces a few miles downstream. We hiked trails around both segments of this river. Also the Santa Fe River is colored brown due to tannic acid in the water.

Some nice old buildings in the SP were constructed by the CCC in the 1930s.

[mary and bob]

We stayed a couple days at Stephen Foster last January. Really enjoyed it, had a couple more days reserved for this coming January but sadly canceled to try a couple other state parks in Florida.

[ai4kk]

Having grown up in High Springs and now living in Chattahoochee, all I can say if you want to talk about terrain, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. I have 100 ft deep ravine in my backyard with a creek running throigh the bottom of it... You won't see anything like that anywhere in Alachua County except for maybe, just maybe leading in to Devil's millhopper.
We call this area the two hills the Appalachians and there's more of them west of us near Fort Walton and Crestview

[ai4kk]

Now if I can just figure out how to edit in Tapatalk

[melissab]

Just curios, are there any gators on this river? I'd love to take my girls tubing as we've done it in NC and farther North where there are no gators. I don't think I could convince them or Hubby to go if we will be seeing gators in the tubing/swimming area.


Thanks!
Melissa

[ai4kk]

It's not a tubing River, there's lots of snags, the water is not clear, and there are many Gators. The two best Rivers I know for tubing in Florida are the Ichetucknee your High Springs and Spring Creek run near Marianna

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

I have never seen a gator on the Ichetucknee river. The noise & crowds from the weekends would surely scare away any that had wandered in on a quieter weekday. Lots of fish, lots of turtles, possibility of fox squirrels in the trees, otters in the river. Of course, in FL there is a potential for ANY puddle of water to have a gator on it.
I believe that if one wandered in to the Ichetucknee and was visible, there would be tubing closedowns and critter relocation.
Santa Fe is tannic but does have a lot of clear springs in it along the way. It's a really nice canoing/kayak river.
If you want a much smaller, more developed tubing experience Rock Springs Run Municipal Park in Apopka used to offer tubing. I would rate it as equivalent to a halfbaked water part with only one ride.

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

Park not part.

[Deb&Sam D.]

O'Leno State Park

Mitzi,

We have enjoyed numerous camping trips at O'Leno (it's close to home). Just a reminder from one former Scout to another, be aware of the tick situation. The Park can experience heavy Deer tick infestations. Make sure to check yourself & the grandkids body parts/ clothing/bedding etc.for the little suckers.

Deb

[ai4kk]

We do have Lyme disease in Florida, last time I checked there are over a thousand cases and I was one of them for a short time. The good news is, if you can catch it and identify it in time, as in within two weeks of the bite, you have a good chance of curing it completely with heavy antibiotic doses. Once it goes systemic however, it is your lifetime companion

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

Thanks for the reminder, Deb.
ai4kk, one of the social workers at my former employer, who is just as much of an outdoorsman as I am an outdoorswoman, told me about 2 years back that the Hospice had had its first terminal Lymes case admitted, and they were about 15 years younger than either of us. It bothered him immensely. I suggested dusting with Flour of Sulfur prior to outdoor activity, which is effective against chiggers, but I really don't know how it works for ticks.

[ai4kk]

It bothers me as well since I love being outside... One of many reasons why I plan to move to Washington State.

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

Arrived at O'Leno Sunday in the heavy showers- Felt a sudden surge of joy as I realized I didn't have to pitch a tent in the rain!!
Rain on the roof = wonderful lullaby!
The Diner in High Springs offers great burgers and all day breakfast and free Wi Fi. Every campsite in the park except #22 has the electric hookup at th back of the site.
Today I ordered a 25 ft 30amp extension cord from Walmart.