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One of nature's true wonders slowly being restored to former glory
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Location: Blogs Sly Comments |
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| Posted by: Emory Schley |
12/14/2007 5:57 AM |
My wife and I went over to Dunnellon last Saturday, to Rainbow Springs where they were having the park’s annual Santa Over the Rainbow event. The park was ablaze with color as bright colorful Christmas lights, arranged in and amongst the branches of the park’s copious shrubs and trees and bedecking the buildings all evoked a peaceful Christmas spirit.
Rainbow Springs State Park is one of those delightfully beautiful areas, that alas, has been allowed to deteriorate greatly over the past three decades. A valiant band of volunteers is slowly, but surely resurrecting at least a taste of the park’s glory days. The pathways are uneven and take extra care to negotiate these days. There is no longer a big aviary filled with exotic birds. No longer is a skyride carrying tourists over the glorious Rainbow River, over the waterfalls, and into the interior of that long-ago aviary. No longer do submarine boats where passengers sit below the level of the water’s surface and look out into the crystal clear waters, ply those magnificent lucid depths. Houses now encroach on the property up to the very entranceway leading back off U.S. 41 to the park where once only rolling green pastures, neatly manicured and trimmed, surrounded the entrance.
Since the state has taken possession of the property, a lot of improvements to the long-neglected property have been made, and it’s slowly coming back to at least a hint of its former beauty, but a full recovery is a long ways off. But those valiant volunteers struggle against the odds in redeeming the park’s beauty and they do it daily, with little recognition and no pay. They do it for the beauty of the place, and for the lovely Rainbow River. They do it for the visitors who want to catch a glimpse of one of the prettiest little getaways in all of Marion County.
If you’d like to take a look, you can find the park just north of Dunnellon about 2-3 miles on U.S. 41. Admission is $1 per person, and it’s the biggest bargain in the entire county! |
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