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.
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.