Salt Springs is the only campground in the Ocala Nat’l Forest that provides full hook ups with water, electricity and some sites have sewer hook ups as well. There are 106 RV sites and 54 primitive tent sites. This campground is very popular with winter visitors and reservations have to be made far in advance.
We camped there for the first time in September. We found the campground to be very large and open. The facilities were clean and well maintained. The park staff was helpful and friendly. If you like privacy however, there are not many sites that provide buffers between sites. However with so much to do at this park, you, like us, probably won’t be spending too much time at the camp sites.
The spring gets its name from the mineral content in the water. Potassium, magnesium and sodium salts give the waters in the spring a salty taste. The salt content of the water is even high enough to sustain many types of salt water species including shrimp, blue crabs and mullet. For many years the spring was thought to have healing properties for people with different types of illnesses.
Although this spring does have the usual deep boil, much of it is a shallow shelf of lime rock which can be snorkeled over. It’s like swimming in a aquarium. Largemouth bass, bream, sunfish and mullet are abundant. When the sun shines, the mullet are like sparkling silver mirrors below the surface.
Outside the swimming area is a large run or river where boats gather for fishing, swimming, picnicking and just having fun. The campground has a boat ramp to launch boats into the river.
If you enjoy snorkeling, boating, fishing swimming or just taking in all of the parks natural Florida foliage and beauty, Salt Springs is for you. Photo of Salt Springs by M.D. Conner, processing by C.S Conner http://www.flickr.com/photos/connerandsonphotography/
