Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have been drawn to the Rainbow River for over 10,000 years. The appeal is obvious: an inexhaustible supply of fresh, clean, temperature-stable water in a subtropical landscape. The river was known by several names before its current one - Wekiwa Creek, Blue Spring, Blue Run - each name capturing a different aspect of its character. The water emerges from the Floridan Aquifer through Rainbow Springs, a first-magnitude spring system ranked fourth in the state for volume of discharge. Unlike springs that bubble up from a single dramatic vent, Rainbow Springs is a distributed system: dozens of openings in limestone, caves, rock crevices, and sand boils along the entire 5.7-mile length of the river. The result is a waterway that stays impossibly clear from headspring to its confluence with the Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon.

The modern history of Rainbow Springs reads like a capsule history of Florida tourism itself. In the late 1880s, the discovery of hard rock phosphate brought a boom to the area, and a small community called Juliette flourished near the springs. By the 1930s, someone had the idea to turn the springs into a tourist attraction, building sea walls, a lodge, a gift shop, waterfalls, and a reptile exhibit. But the real heyday came in the 1960s under new ownership. The attraction expanded wildly: glass-bottomed boats, riverboat rides, log raft floats, an aviary, a cafe, a horse rodeo, the famous submarine boat tours, and an overhead monorail system with leaf-shaped gondolas. It was peak mid-century Florida roadside spectacle - exuberant, eccentric, and utterly dependent on highway traffic that would soon be rerouted.

After the attraction closed in 1974, the site was abandoned. Vegetation crept over the sea walls and walkways. The gift shop and lodge fell into disrepair. The leaf-shaped gondolas rusted on their rails. But in 1972, even before the closure, the Rainbow River had been designated a Registered Natural Landmark. In 1986 it became an Aquatic Preserve, and in 1987 it earned the designation "Outstanding Florida Waterway" - recognition that the river's value lay not in submarine rides but in the extraordinary clarity and ecological richness of the water itself. The state purchased the original attraction site in 1990. Volunteers cleared the overgrown grounds and opened the park on weekends. The Florida Park Service officially opened Rainbow Springs State Park on a full-time basis on March 9, 1995, completing the river's transformation from roadside spectacle to protected natural treasure.

The park today encompasses uplands, wetlands, and submerged areas fed by the headspring basin. The river supports 11 distinct natural communities, from sandhills and flatwoods to upland mixed forests and hydric hammocks. Beneath the water's surface, aquatic vegetation sways in the current like an underwater garden - visible in extraordinary detail thanks to the spring water's clarity. Above, the banks shelter gray squirrels, white-tailed deer, barred owls, red-shouldered hawks, and swallowtail kites. The trees include longleaf pine, magnolia, dogwood, redbud, and hickory. Visitors swim, snorkel, canoe, and kayak in water that maintains its 72-degree temperature year-round - refreshingly cool in summer, surprisingly warm in winter. The river that once supported submarine tours and monorail rides now supports something quieter and more enduring: direct, unmediated contact with one of Florida's most remarkable natural systems.