Orlando Springs Weekend: 3 Two-Day Itineraries From the City

One spring is a day trip. Two days and a night away gets you something better: the first hour at the gate before the crowds, a paddle that takes a whole afternoon, and a second spring that feels nothing like the first.

Nine good springs sit within 90 minutes of Orlando, and they fall into three clusters. Each itinerary below takes one cluster, splits it across a Saturday and a Sunday, and names the town to sleep in. All three work in reverse, and all three work midweek, when the gates are quieter.

If you only have one day, use the Orlando springs day trip guide instead.

The Drive-Time Grid: All Nine Springs

Which Weekend Is Yours

• First springs trip, or kids in the car: Itinerary 1. Short drives, a tube float, and manatees in winter.
• You want quiet and do not mind camping: Itinerary 2. Three springs in a national forest with no cell service.
• You would rather be on the water than in it: Itinerary 3. Glass-bottom boats and two of the best paddling rivers in the state.

Itinerary 1: Kelly Park, Wekiwa, Blue Spring, and De Leon

Best for: families and first-timers. Sleep in: DeLand or Orange City. Total driving: the shortest of the three.

Saturday: Apopka

Start at Rock Springs at Kelly Park, and start early. The park admits 280 vehicles each morning, first come, first served, and takes no reservations. On summer Saturdays that cap can fill within an hour of the 8 a.m. opening. Entry is $3 to $5 per vehicle.

The draw is a three-quarter-mile tube float down a spring run under live oaks. It takes about 25 minutes, then you walk 10 minutes back and go again. The park does not rent tubes, so bring your own or rent from the vendors outside the entrance. The water is 68°F, colder than most Florida springs, so pack a dry layer for the walk back. If you leave the park for lunch or a tube, get a re-entry stamp at the gatehouse first.

For the afternoon, pick one:

• Swim at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Entry is $6 per vehicle, and every visitor needs a day-use reservation, which opens 60 days out at reserve.floridastateparks.org. Book it before you plan anything else.
• Paddle Rock Springs Run from King's Landing. The self-guided day paddle through the Emerald Cut is $54 for a single kayak. No park reservation needed, but book the boat.

Eat at Wekiva Island on the river, then drive up to DeLand for the night.

Sunday: Orange City and DeLand

Be at Blue Spring State Park when it opens at 8 a.m. Entry is $6 per vehicle. What you do there depends on the month:

• April to mid-November: swim and snorkel the quarter-mile spring run.
• November 15 to mid-March: the run closes to people and fills with manatees. You watch from the boardwalk, and on cold mornings the park reaches capacity fast.

The two-hour St. Johns River cruise runs year-round at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., at about $35 to $38 for adults. It is the one thing here worth booking ahead in either season, because a confirmed cruise reservation gets you admitted even when the park is otherwise full.

Finish at De Leon Springs State Park, six miles north of downtown DeLand, also $6 per vehicle. Swim in the walled spring pool or take the 50-minute eco-cruise into Lake Woodruff. The park's pancake restaurant changed operators after 2022, so call the park at 386-985-4212 before you count on it. Orlando is 55 minutes away.

Itinerary 2: The Ocala National Forest

Best for: swimmers, snorkelers, and campers. Sleep in: a forest campground, or Astor.

Three rules cover all three springs. Day use is $14.50 per person at each one, with children five and under free. There is no cell service, so download maps and reservations first and bring cash. On weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through Labor Day, Alexander and Silver Glen also require a $20 vehicle reservation, sold in advance only at ReserveOcala.com.

Saturday: Alexander Springs

Alexander Springs is the easy one: a wide, sandy, gently sloping pool over a first-magnitude spring, 75 minutes from Orlando. Swim and snorkel in the morning. In the afternoon, rent a canoe from the in-park concessionaire and paddle Alexander Run. The current is mild enough to paddle back upstream, so no shuttle is needed. Expect turtles, otters, and alligators on the banks. The spring is also the only one in the forest that allows scuba, for certified divers.

Camp here if you can. The campground has 67 sites within a walk of the water, with hot showers and no hookups, reserved through Recreation.gov. The Florida springs camping guide compares it with Juniper's.

Sunday: Juniper Springs and Silver Glen

Drive about 20 miles north to Juniper Springs and choose your morning:

• Confident paddlers: the Juniper Run canoe trail, seven miles one way through wilderness, three to five hours. A single kayak with shuttle is $65. The last launch is 1 p.m., and children under 8 are not allowed on the shuttle. This fills the day, so skip Silver Glen.
• Everyone else: swim in the spring pool the Civilian Conservation Corps built in 1935, then walk 15 minutes to see the sand boils at Fern Hammock.

After the pool, drive 15 miles north to Silver Glen Springs. The basin is 74°F, with visibility that often passes 50 feet. It is day-use only, and the lot holds 95 vehicles.

Itinerary 3: Silver Springs and the Rainbow River

Best for: paddlers, and anyone traveling with someone who does not swim. Sleep in: Ocala.

Saturday: Silver Springs

There is no swimming at Silver Springs State Park. You come for the glass-bottom boats, which have run here since the 1870s. The 30-minute tour is $17 for adults and leaves every 15 to 20 minutes from 9 a.m. Entry at the main gate is $2 per person.

Spend the afternoon on the Silver River. The guided paddle is a five-mile downriver float with a shuttle back, past turtles, alligators, and the park's wild rhesus monkeys. Keep at least 50 feet from the monkeys and do not feed them. On weekends the Silver River Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for $2, and rangers run a free program at 2 p.m.

The park has 10 cabins, but they carry a two-night minimum, so a one-night trip means the campground or a hotel in Ocala, eight miles west.

Sunday: Rainbow Springs

Rainbow Springs State Park is 20 miles southwest of Ocala, in Dunnellon. The headsprings entrance has the swimming area, the 1930s waterfalls, and kayak rentals from $19 an hour. Entry is $5 per vehicle. Since April 29, 2026, the headsprings entrance requires a day-use reservation.

Tubing runs from a separate entrance nine miles away, with no road between the two. It is $25 per person for the tube and tram, and it is seasonal: daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day, weekends in the shoulder months, closed October through March. The tubing guide covers the longer KP Hole float.

The headsprings close when they reach capacity on summer weekends, so aim to arrive by 9 a.m. Then eat on the river in Dunnellon, where Stumpknockers and the Blue Gator both sit on the water, before the 90-minute drive home.

Reservations to Make Before You Go

• Wekiwa Springs: day-use reservation required year-round, open 60 days out.
• Rainbow Springs headsprings: day-use reservation required.
• Alexander and Silver Glen: $20 vehicle reservation on summer weekends and holidays, up to 14 days ahead.
• Kelly Park: no reservations. Arrive before 8 a.m.
• Silver Springs boats and the Blue Spring cruise: not required, but both sell out on weekends.
• Campsites: state parks through reserve.floridastateparks.org, forest campgrounds through Recreation.gov.

What the Gates Cost

Gate fees are the small part of the budget. For one car with two adults:

• Itinerary 1: about $21 for all four parks. Kelly Park is $3, and the three state parks are $6 each.
• Itinerary 2: $87. The forest springs charge $14.50 per person, per spring. Add $20 per vehicle at Alexander and at Silver Glen on summer weekends.
• Itinerary 3: $9, which is $2 per person at Silver Springs and $5 per vehicle at Rainbow Springs. The boat tour, tubing, and rentals are extra.

A campsite runs $24 a night plus tax and fees at Wekiwa or Blue Spring. Hotels in DeLand and Ocala are where the real cost of the weekend sits.

When to Go

Each spring holds the same temperature all year, so the season decides the crowd, not the swim. Summer weekends are the hardest: Kelly Park fills early, and the forest springs need vehicle reservations. Winter is quieter and brings the manatees to Blue Spring, but its run is closed to swimmers from November 15 to mid-March, and Rainbow Springs tubing is closed from October through March. April, May, and September after Labor Day are the easiest weeks for all three itineraries.

More options are on the springs near Orlando page.

Fees, hours, and reservation rules are from our individual spring guides, last verified May 28, 2026. Parks change them without notice. Confirm with each park before you drive.