• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Florida Hikes logo

Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

  • Trails
  • Maps
  • Guidebooks
  • Search
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel

Back to Blue Run

Blue skies, blue water: the beauty of a hike at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon is in the glimpses of blue amid the supersaturated greens that provide deep shade along its trails.

April 11, 2016    Sandra Friend

206 shares

 

Blue Run  put-in
Paddlers at the put-in
 Blue skies, blue water: the beauty of a hike at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon is in the glimpses of blue amid the supersaturated greens that provide deep shade along its trails.

Blue Run itself is the Rainbow River under its oldest of names. It, too, was Blue Spring, like many found across Florida, named for its most obvious asset, a bounty of blue pouring forth from the earth. In those days, exploitation was the norm in Florida, the forests in every direction stripped of their most ancient cypresses and pines, the earth rent asunder by the discovery of phosphate just a little ways down the Withlacoochee River. Towns sprung up to house the miners, and vanished back into the earth after they’d exhausted the resources around them.

 

Dunnellon Trail
The Dunnellon Trail follows the old rail line
 The main trail at Blue Run, the one that parallels the river, is now paved. It wasn’t so when I first poked around these woods, where you could find old railroad ties and spikes. The railroad connected the mining towns so the bounty of phosphate could be shipped south for processing. While the rails are long gone, the causeway left behind in the floodplain forest between the Rainbow and Withlacoochee Rivers makes a fine place to hike or bike.

 

A peek at the Pond
A peek at the Pond
 And so it was today. It had been a month since my last hike, which is rare for me, but the intervening month was one of the hardest of my life, watching my mother’s life slip away. She and Dad brought us to this river often as small children, entranced by the beautiful gardens planted around the old phosphate pits in the 1930s, an early Florida attraction dubbed Rainbow Springs. By the time we discovered the gardens in the 1960s, they were lush and enticing.

 

Rainbow Springs 1969
Our family at Rainbow Springs in 1969
 By the late 1970s, they gave me a reason to care. Shut down due to plummeting ticket sales in the wake of Walt Disney World drawing tourists away from simpler pleasures along Florida’s byways, the gardens were at risk of becoming a subdivision. It angered my teenage sensibilities. As part of a class project I wrote an epic poem about the park and my teacher helped me get it published as an opinion piece in the Ocala Star Banner.

 

Rainbow Springs poem
Intro of my epic poem from 1978
 Marion County eventually bought the land and donated it to the state. It became Rainbow Springs State Park. I like to think I played a small part in that saga. It protects the beginning of the Rainbow River.

 

Blue Run bridge
My sister Sally and I on the bridge over the Withlacoochee
 Blue Run Park, preserved by the City of Dunnellon, protects the end. The Rainbow River is only 6 miles long. From the Dunnellon Trail, the paved path used by the statewide Florida Trail to cross the north-flowing Withlacoochee River, you can see the rivers merge, with the shores of Dunnellon Beach in view across the river.

 

The Withlacoochee River
The Withlacoochee River
 I walked with my sister Sally and her kids. We encountered many people on the trail this beautiful day, immersed in the leafy greens of spring and standing on the big bridge to marvel at the river panorama below.

The park’s natural surface trails shouldn’t be missed. One focuses on the upland sandhill forest, while the other circles the pond. Poison ivy grows profusely in the deep shade, with poison oak within view. The trails are wide, so it’s easy to avoid these natural perils by not stepping off the footpath.

 

Blue flag iris
Blue flag iris
 Sally showed me her secret spot, a cove nearly obscured by man made structures. Along its edge, a fringe of one of my favorite Florida wildflowers, the blue flag iris. It’s always found in wetlands, and starts blooming around my birthday, a reminder of rebirth in spring.

 

Chapel window
Beautiful stained glass window in the chapel at Legacy House hospice
 Mom died on my birthday. It was a harrowing reality to face until another woman at hospice, who’d soon be the matriarch of her Native American clan, came over and gave me a hug and said she was expecting the same of her mother, who was there too. “What greater gift could she give you, to complete the circle?”

 

Four generations
Four generations
 It’s still a hard fact to face that I’m now an orphan and the eldest of our line. But walking along the river where memories of our family flow made me remember the solace I’ve always found in nature. As I sit here at sunrise listening to the birdsong echo through the forest, the Chuck’s-wills-widow calling and first light seeping through the spring’s new growth on the live oaks, I know I’ll heal. Eventually.

Category: Articles, Hiking, MomentsTag: Cross Florida Greenway, Dunnellon, Ocala, Rainbow River, Withlacoochee River

Reader Interactions

Have an update? Contact us.

Primary Sidebar

CENTRAL FLORIDA

CENTRAL FLORIDA OVERVIEW
East Coast Greenway. Florida Trail

Brooksville. Coast to Coast Trail. Cocoa Beach. Cross Florida Greenway. Crystal River. Dade City. Daytona Beach. Kissimmee. Lakeland. Leesburg. Ocala. Ocala National Forest. Orlando. Sanford. St. Petersburg. Tampa.

Our Newest Books

The Florida Trail Guide

The Florida Trail GuideOur definitive guidebook to planning backpacking trips on the Florida National Scenic Trail, now in its fourth edition. Full data charts and maps. B&W, 356 pages. $19.95 + tax & shipping.

Order Now


Florida Trail Hikes

Florida Trail Hikes 2nd edition coverFifty of the best day hikes, overnights, and weekend trips on the Florida Trail. Full hike descriptions and maps, full color. 376 pages. $24.95 + tax & shipping.

Order Now


Discovering the Florida Trail

Florida Trail mini coffee table book cover of trail into palm hammock
A visual journey the length of the Florida Trail, covering more than 1,500 miles from the Everglades to Pensacola Beach. Hardcover, 196 pages. $24.95 + tax & shipping.
Order Now


50 Hikes in Central Florida 3rd edition
Five Star Trails Orlando guidebook
Explorer's Guide North Florida & The Panhandle guidebook

Florida Trail Apps

Farout GuidesFarout Guides Comprehensive logistics and offline maps for the
Florida National Scenic Trail (1,500 miles), the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (108 miles), and the ECT Florida Connector (92 miles).

Explore More

Our recent park & trail updates in this region

Line of pines with shrubs and a grassy trail foreground

Pasture Reserve

Pasture Reserve
Boardwalk looping along lakeshore as seen from above

Bonnet Springs Park

Bonnet Springs Park
Waterway flowing through lush forest with path beyond

Dickson Azalea Park

Dickson Azalea Park
Florida rosemary growing in bright white sand

Shadow Bay Park

Shadow Bay Park

Footer

FIND A TRAIL OR PARK

NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Apalachicola. Apalachicola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest. Blountstown. Bonifay. Bristol. Cape San Blas. Carrabelle. Chattahoochee. Chipley. Crawfordville. Crestview. DeFuniak Springs. Destin. Ebro. Eglin Air Force Base. Fort Walton Beach. Freeport. Gulf Islands National Seashore. Madison. Marianna. Milton. Monticello. Mossy Head. Navarre Beach . Niceville. Panama City Beach. Pensacola. Ponce De Leon. Port St. Joe. Quincy. Sopchoppy. South Walton. St. Marks. St. Marks NWR. Tallahassee. Vernon. Wakulla. Wewahitchka

NORTH FLORIDA
Alachua. Amelia Island. Baldwin. Branford. Bunnell. Cedar Key. Chiefland. Crescent City. Dowling Park. Ellaville. Fernandina Beach. Flagler Beach. Gainesville. Green Cove Springs. High Springs. Jacksonville. Keystone Heights. Lake Butler.Lake City. Live Oak. Mayo. Macclenny. Micanopy. Olustee. Orange Park. Osceola National Forest. Palatka. Palatka-Lake Butler Trail. Palm Coast. Perry. Salt Springs. St. Augustine. Starke. Steinhatchee. Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. Suwannee Springs. Talbot Islands. Timucuan Preserve. Trenton. Welaka. White Springs. Williston

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

MULTI-REGION
Big Cypress Swamp. East Coast Greenway. Everglades National Park. Florida National Scenic Trail

CENTRAL FLORIDA
Apopka. Belleview. Brandon. Brooksville. Bushnell. Canaveral National Seashore. Christmas. Chuluota. Clearwater Beach. Clermont. Coast to Coast Trail. Cocoa Beach. Cross Florida Greenway. Crystal River. Dade City. Daytona Beach. De Leon Springs. DeBary. Deland. Deltona. Dunedin. Dunnellon. Frostproof. Geneva. Inverness. Kenansville. Kissimmee. Lake Mary. Lake Wales. Lakeland. Largo. Leesburg. Longwood. Melbourne. Melbourne Beach. Merritt Island. Merritt Island NWR. Mims. Mount Dora. New Port Richey. New Smyrna Beach. Ocala. Ocala National Forest. Ocklawaha. Orlando. Ormond Beach. Osteen. Oviedo. Palm Bay. Ridge Manor. Sanford. Silver Springs. Spring Hill. St. Cloud. St. Petersburg. Tampa. Tarpon Springs. Titusville . Walt Disney World. Weeki Wachee. Winter Springs. Withlacoochee State Forest. Withlacoochee State Trail. Yeehaw Junction

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton . Charlotte Harbor. Ding Darling NWR. Englewood. Estero. Fort Myers. Immokalee. Naples. Pine Island. Port Charlotte. Punta Gorda. Sanibel Island. Sarasota. Venice

SOUTH FLORIDA
Arcadia. Basinger. Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Clewiston. Everglades City. Fisheating Creek. Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Lake Placid. LaBelle. Lakeport. Moore Haven. Okeechobee. Pahokee. Port Mayaca. Sebring. South Bay

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Big Pine Key. Biscayne Bay. Biscayne National Park. Boca Raton. Boynton Beach. Coral Gables. Davie. Delray Beach. Northeast Everglades Natural Area. Florida Keys. Fort Lauderdale. Fort Pierce. Hobe Sound. Hollywood. Homestead. Islamorada. Jensen Beach. Jupiter. Juno Beach. Key Biscayne. Key Largo. Key West. Marathon. Miami. Ocean to Lake Greenway. Overseas Heritage Trail. Palm Beach. Port St. Lucie. Redland. Sebastian. Stuart. Vero Beach. West Palm Beach

  • Trails
  • Parks
  • Beaches
  • Gardens
  • Springs
  • Ecotours
  • Attractions
©2006-2023, Sandra Friend & John Keatley | Disclosure | Site Index | Work with Us | Advertise with Us
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy | Florida Hikes PO Box 93 Mims FL 32754| Contact