Juniper Springs Recreation Area

We had the best time kayaking Juniper Springs Run! The water was crystal clear for the whole seven miles. It wasn’t too difficult of a paddle, although I did tip once trying to duck under a tree. There were a few trees on the run to navigate around and some pretty low where you had no choice but to try and lay down or duck to clear it. The current does most of the work to move you forward without needing to paddle too hard, although we chose to paddle the whole time and finished in about three hours. The hardest part is just steering your kayak since the run is very windy and fairly narrow in most parts.
We have our own kayaks so we opted to use the shuttle for a reverse rehaul, which was only $ 10.60 per car and not charged per person. There is a $ 5 per person fee to get into the park also. For the reverse rehaul, one person stays with the gear and the other drops their car off at the end of the run and takes the shuttle back. You coordinate that when you pay and sign your waiver at the Rec office. That was nice to be able to just load up and leave when we were done instead of waiting on the shuttle. The shuttle seems to run every half hour on the hour but will be every thirty minutes if they are really busy. We put in around 11:30 and were told about 25 – 30 people had gone ahead of us but it wasn’t crowded at all and was so peaceful. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was the whole time. FYI — if you plan to rent from them, I would recommend a kayak over canoes. I don’t know how people in canoes can steer this run! And if you plan to rent, the last one they rent is at 11:45am.
We were fortunate enough to see lots of wildlife too! We saw a raccoon swimming and fishing, two gators, tons of turtles, birds and fish. It was an overall excellent time and we are already planning a trip back.

Best kayak run EVER!!! It is my idea of what heaven will look like!!. It’s perfect clear water is beautiful! ¾ in there is a, small rapid. Stay to the right and avoid the branch after the rapid. You touch the branch and you will flip! Bring water and food! Pack in a on disposable container! Great run!

Great place for the family it kinda of out I the middle of no where so may be a good idea to bring food and drinks as there is no stores around

Wonderful as always! Great swim, weather perfect. Wish the little store had been open past noon, but otherwise a perfect day!

We went camping here with the kids in February. It was great. The springs are pretty, but not very special compared to others. The campgrounds are well maintained. The showers are clean. There is also a dishwashing room. It’s a bit annoying though that you have to keep your hand on the faucet, or the water will stop. Bring a friend or family member along and doing dishes will be fun.
We stayed in the tent-​only loop (tropical camp area loop) but you can also stay at the other two loops. They are for RV’s and tents. It seems the restrooms are more centrally located there (closer) and the sites are at times more spacious. The walk to the restrooms in our loop (fern hammock) was a bit far and especially spooky at night. The tropical camp area loop (units 1 – 34) is the closest to the springs. The sand pine camp area loop gives you the most privacy (units 35 – 60)
They sell firewood. But it’s not cheap. In case you forget to bring something, there is a Winn Dixie about 12 miles west, and a Walmart about 40 miles east (just off I95).

The swimming area is not special or amazing in anyway. It’s basically just an outdoor swimming pool and the only area you can swim in the entire place.

Great kayaking trip! The water was very pretty. Lots of wildlife and a few BIG gators. I would’ve given it 5 stars but when I called the park they gave me the wrong information about what we could or could not bring, amongst other things. No disposable items!!! This includes water. Everything has to be in a non-​disposable drinking cup, Tupperware or Rubbermaid container. The cost to get in is $ 5 per person not per car and the shuttle to come back in is $ 10 a person. So, either bring 2 cars or pay for one person to ride the shuttle back after parking your car at Wayside park. This park is not pet friendly either. So if you show up to kayak with your dog it is a wasted trip cause you will not be able to go.

Four of us went and did the 7.5 mile paddle down the Juniper Spring. We were all extremely disappointed and would never choose to do so again.
First, we have a National Park Pass and it is not honored at this location, so we had to pay $ 5.30 per person to get in (Not per car). That was not a problem, but if we are going to pay that much for the use of a park that is supposed to be so renowned, we expect that the paddling trails would be maintained.
Second, the entire paddling trail was overgrown. You could hardly paddle for 100′ without having some sort of brush, limb, growth or tree in your path. Many, many times you had to bend over to the point of having your face in your knees just to go under a fallen tree. The number of trees that have fallen across the path is incredible. Not only do you have to navigate these barely submerged trunks, but often enough, they aren’t seen until the last moment in the brackish water and you become stuck on them. There are some trees that the park has made a lame attempt to cut and move, but they are too lazy to even cut the whole tree from the one side of the trail to the other. They often only cut a whole just big enough for a canoe to get through.
The trail is listed as Intermediate and rightfully so. We have done enough canoe trips, that I am confident I would be intermediate. And my husband is more advanced. Yet neither of us found this trip enjoyable. Due to the many turns and swift currents around them, coupled with the obstacles of so many downed trees, the entire trip was nothing but work.
This park attracts many paddlers and they frequently rent the canoes at $ 33 per canoe. The ranger at the launch said there were 45 canoe rentals the day before. My problem with this park is that with that amount of money coming in, coupled with the cost of admission, it is ridiculous that money is not allocated to better keeping the paddling trail maintained.
On the positive side, we did see lots of turtles, two alligators and some fish. The water was very clean and clear in the beginning, but turned more brackish not far in. The beautiful crystal clear water with pretty sandy bottom that you see from the head springs does not continue on very far into your paddle.
I would recommend skipping this paddle and trying the Rainbow River instead if you are looking for a relaxing day and clear water the whole way.

Do not get campsite #7 unless you like a tight space and waking up to the folks going to the bathroom at 6am and throughout the night by animals moving dry leaves behind your tent.
Overall a chill place to go canoeing or hang out in the natural spring.
The canoeing can be long so make sure to take lots of water (no plastic containers) and some food (no wrappers). Go for the kayaks instead of the canoes. They are more manuverable.
Personally, i found this place to be too chill. There is not much to do here so for a relax trip this is perfect.

Great facility. Clean and friendly staff. Please lock all items in your vehicle at night. We and a campsite near us had a very large and heavy cooler stolen in the middle of the night. The park security and staff tried to locate the items and law enforcement even came but no luck in the end. Also do not even think about fireworks. Saw other campers getting a citation and courtdate.

Took the family here for a few days in the woods and it was AMAZING! The campsites were large with lots of shade. BBQ and fire pit plus clean restrooms with hot showers. The spring swimming area is beautiful but COLD!!! There was a cool platform that the kids loved jumping off and picnic areas. My husband and two older boys did the seven mile canoe run while me and the younger boys explored the nature trail… so nice!!! Do yourself a favor and visit this area… can’t beat it for $ 20 a night. If I could give any advice it would be to make sure you bring enough food and wood because the nearest store is far and wood is $ 7 for a small bundle… Enjoy!!!

Juniper Springs is an Ocala National Forest Recreational facility off SR 40 west of SR 19. It has camping as well as day-​recreation activities like swimming and apparently you can rent a canoe, too, though I’ve not done this. I’ve only gone swimming here, so my review will focus on that and the general aspects of the park. It cost $ 5.36 to get a car in for a day, which is good for 8am-​8pm. That’s pretty standard to USDA/​National Forest facilities but higher than Florida’s State Parks I believe. Once you’re in, you park and there’s bathrooms which also have the nice little changing cubbies and also showers as do the ones at Alexander Springs, also in the Ocala National Forest.
The spring itself is in a large pool which has been ringed with stone steps and a seating area with a pic-​nic area beyond that. There’s a really cool little platform to dive off of into the deeper part of the springs, too, and a historical exhibit of an old water-​powered mill directly behind this platform. The main draw it seemed was swimming, which was great, though there’s a lot of botanical presence with all manner of aquatic plants growing in this spring and nearby trees that also drop leaves in so the water is not as pristine as some Florida springs like Rainbow River and Alexander. You’ll find leaves floating about a lot and the sandy bottom of the spring seems to stir up and muddy the waters moreso than most Florida springs. Still, it’s a great place to go swimming on a hot day and I’d also really like to go camping here soon.

Spring and swimming area is not as impressive as some other springs in central Florida but it is still pretty darned impressive. The canoe trip is the best in north and central Florida and the price is right too.

This review is from the perspective of a camper.
We are Florida Natives, so we’ve visited a great many springs. This spring was nothing to write home about, in comparison — however, it was neat how they turned it into a recreational area.
With that said, we visited in February to camp and check out the Spring. It was a beautiful trip, we enjoyed our pad, saw deer, wild turkey, and lots of coons. Our pad was within a short distance from the hot showers and restrooms, which was nice.
The trails and exploration was a lot of fun. We spent two days wandering around through the trails and had a blast.

Went here spur of the moment because Deleon Springs was full. We didn’t do any of the trails or canoeing but would definitely give it a try in the future. There’s lots of grassy areas to set up a towel, places where you can BBQ, bathrooms were clean complete with showers and changing rooms. We spent the afternoon by the springs which are super refreshing, clean and crystal clear. There’s an underwater ledge that wraps around the pool so you can pretty much walk the circumference of the pool in waist high water. The water gets pretty deep at one end, there’s a big platform where you can jump and dive into the water. It would be a fun place to have a snorkel, wish I had brought mine. Lots of little small fry fishes that like to nibble your toes too! The reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because at $ 5/person+tax it was a bit more than I was expecting to pay. I know, I’m a cheapskate.

This is one of the best canoe trails in Florida. I come here every year for a two to four hours of exciting canoe experiences. This year we saw four alligators very close to the canoe, including a baby gator on top of a mom. Also, lots of turtles, birds, and rain deer. The water is clear, and the area is beautiful. If you don’t know how to canoe, you probably want to practice at least once, in a wider area. There are lots of turns that you have to make, although the flow is really slow. The last canoe starts at 10 am, and I recommend you go before 8 am. The shuttle back from the end to the beginning is included in the canoe rental, or you can bring your own canoe as well. Currently there’s a construction near the very end of the canoe trip.
The pool area is wonderful as well, but this year (2009) the pool area is closed for conservation until July or something. There are underwater caves in the pool, and the water is ice cold even in hot summer.

i had heard so much about the florida springs, i finally decided to reserve a camping spot before it starts getting too hot to camp. the juniper springs recreation area is inside the huge ocala national forest. the second largest national forest in florida.
getting there was really easy, i95 to west highway 40. a five hour drive from miami. i made the reservation through
, check-​in in was easy, we got a little map, a parking permit and a little flyer with some activities around the park. there are plenty things to do here, most importantly, the spring — which i didnt go in cause it was too cold, there are also nature trails and canoe trails. you must call a day in advance to reserve a canoe. they rent those until noon because the actual canoe trail takes an average of four hours to complete. they go for 30 $. unfortunately i didnt call in advance so the lady at the canoe rental place told me to go to alexander springs which is a 20 min drive and its also inside the ocala national forest. we went to alexander springs, did another canoe trail for a couple of hours. i saw: a few otters, a couple of gators, giant fish (crystal clear waters!) and about 10 different species of birds. the site was incredible. I’m amazed and hitting myself on the head for not taking my camera.
caoeing wasnt enough so i went for the bike trails. this was amazing too. the paisley woods bicycle trail is a 22 mile biking trail that is not recommended for beginners. not because the terrain being too challenging but because the amount of strength that takes to pedal on the sands… i was with a friend who doesnt bike often (i do) so we started easy and decided to only do half the trip (11 miles). the trail is gorgeous, youre in the middle of the woods. ive never seen anything like this in my life… just awesome! its a little hilly so make sure you train a little before doing this. also, theres no water available anywhere so make sure you pack a couple of bottles of water and maybe a granola bar or two. i completed half of the trail (11 miles) in two hours, my friend did it in four…
going back to the park, make sure you bring everything so you dont have to go to the ‘closest store’ (meaning walmart of course) to get anything. the closest walmart is a 30 min drive. the only thing i didnt like about my camping site is that it was too close to highway 40 so you could hear cars and trucks go by. i will google earth the sites before reserving next time i do this. just because i am that geeky like that.
dont you worry about restrooms, the restrooms are clean (bring soap, shampoo and towels) and there are even showers with temperature controlled water. if youre driving 5 or 6 hours to get here, make sure you stay at least two nights. theres plenty to do and remember to bring your bike and/​or your snorkeling equipment. pack your goodies and party favorites and remember to be careful with the bears… one more thing, the lovely lady who checked me in gave me the wrong code to the gate (she had a dyslexia attack and switched the order of two digits) so make sure you reconfirm that number unless you want to stay outside the park at night. (gate closes at 8pm).
other than that, this place is a must see. it is a privilege to live so close to this paradise.