Salt Springs, Florida: Recreation Area, Camping and the Town

No. Many people search for "Salt Springs State Park," but there is no state park by that name. Salt Springs Recreation Area belongs to the Ocala National Forest, which the U.S. Forest Service manages as part of the National Forests in Florida. The Forest Service page says the site is operated by Naventure, a private company that runs the campground, day-use area and marina under the Forest Service.

That changes how a visit works. Campsites are reserved on Recreation.gov, the federal booking site, or by phone at 1-877-444-6777. Day-use fees are set and collected by Naventure, which sells its own $80 Annual Day Use Pass on site. The Forest Service says that pass is good for one year at the four recreation areas Naventure runs: Juniper Springs, Alexander Springs, Silver Glen Springs and Salt Springs. Forest Service rules apply, such as the 14-day camping limit in any 30-day period and the order that keeps pets out of the day-use area.

For a spring that is a Florida state park, two near Ocala are Silver Springs State Park in Ocala and Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon. The other Forest Service springs in the forest are compared in our guide to springs in the Ocala National Forest.

Salt Springs Recreation Area sits along State Road 19 in the northeast part of the Ocala National Forest, in the small community of Salt Springs. Recreation.gov places it between the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers, about 35 miles east of Ocala. What sets the spring apart is its water: Recreation.gov says potassium, magnesium and sodium salts give it a slight salinity, which is where the name comes from. The Forest Service notes that in the early 1900s many people came to the spring believing it had healing powers.

According to the Forest Service, the spring puts out about 52 million gallons of water a day at a constant 74 degrees. The St. Johns River Water Management District classes it as a second-magnitude spring with a pool about 190 feet by 130 feet, fed by four vents in the limestone floor, with concrete walls and a walkway along three sides. Naventure describes shallow, clear water for wading and a designated area for swimming and snorkeling.

The campground is the largest in the Ocala National Forest and the only one in the forest with full hookups for RVs, according to the Forest Service. Recreation.gov lists 146 reservable sites: 94 RV sites with 50-amp electric, water and sewer hookups at $70 per night, and 52 tent-only sites at $38 per night in a separate tent area a short walk from parking. (The Forest Service amenity list gives slightly different totals, 106 electric and 54 tent sites, so Recreation.gov is the source for what can actually be booked.) Sites hold up to 5 people and 2 vehicles, RVs can be up to 40 feet, and quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., when generators must be off. To compare Salt Springs with the forest's other campgrounds, see our guide to Ocala National Forest campgrounds.

Salt Springs Run leaves the spring and, per the water management district, flows southeast for about 4 miles before entering the northwest corner of Lake George, which the district calls the second-largest lake in Florida. The Forest Service says the run reaches the lake near Drayton Island. Salt Springs Marina, near the beginning of the run, rents paddle craft and has a double boat ramp. The run ends in the open lake, so plan a round trip back upstream to the marina.

Hikers have two trails nearby. The Bear Swamp Trail is an easy 1.3-mile loop through the old forest that edged the spring when botanist William Bartram visited in 1774. The Salt Springs Trail is a loop of less than two miles through the Big Scrub, with some sharp climbs, a long boardwalk and a birdwatching deck at the end. The Great Florida Birding Trail notes a free trailhead for the Salt Springs Trail a little over a mile south of the recreation area, and lists limpkins, green herons and bald eagles among the birds seen here.