A New Trail
Let’s just take a second to appreciate how ridiculously beautiful Silver Springs State Park is. Seriously, every time I go, I feel so lucky that this is basically in our backyard and we can pop over whenever we feel like it. It’s kind of like having front-row seats to nature’s favorite show.
Anyway, enough gushing for now. Here’s everything we got up to on our most recent trip to the park. Spoiler alert: it was as awesome as watching a squirrel try to carry a leaf three times its size.
Ice Cream & Booze
I’m a sucker for ice cream, and a fun drink on the side never hurts. Our first mission in the park was grabbing a key lime pie milkshake that tasted like summer in a cup. Next door to the ice cream shop is a cozy café serving food, mixed drinks, and snacks. I love their melty grilled cheese, it’s like a warm hug. Fun fact: cows have best friends and get stressed when separated, so I imagine the cheese came from besties. With drinks and snacks ready, we set off on our nature walk. The trees rustled softly, squirrels darted around judging us for not sharing, and birds sang as if giving us a private concert.
Right now, as I’m writing this, they’re tearing down that old building that was contaminated with asbestos. They actually set up a little viewing area where you can sit and watch the whole process. It’s kind of fascinating to see it all happening up close, like your own real-life construction documentary.
I keep wondering what they’re going to put there next. A garden? A new visitor center? Maybe something cool for kids? Nature has a funny way of reclaiming spaces, kind of like how plants slowly grow through cracks in sidewalks.
The squirrels in the park are ridiculously brave, even with all the noise and machinery. We still saw a bunch of them darting around the paths, searching for snacks like tiny furry treasure hunters. We also spotted a lizard that somehow managed to wiggle its way inside the information board. Lizards are great climbers, and some can even drop their tails to escape predators, which is wild when you think about it. Imagine just deciding to drop your own arm because something is chasing you.
Walking Paths
After we headed left to check out the shops and peek at the construction site, we looped back around and took the trails on the right side of the park. That side always feels a little extra magical, kind of like when you find the perfect seashell hiding in the sand.
The water there is unreal. It’s crystal clear and this bright, glowing blue that almost doesn’t look real, but it is. I honestly had never seen water look that naturally beautiful until I came to this spring. Growing up in Utah, I saw plenty of mountain springs, and they were gorgeous in their own way, but nothing I ever saw there even came close to this. It’s like the difference between a house cat and a tiger. Both are cool, but one just makes your jaw drop.
You can see all the way down to the riverbed floor, and the fish just cruise around like they own the place. We spotted a bunch of dragonflies zipping around, some butterflies floating by, and a few spiders hanging out in their webs. Watching all the little critters do their thing is always one of my favorite parts. Fun fact: dragonflies can actually fly in all directions, even backward, which makes them kind of the acrobats of the insect world.
One time I saw a banana spider just chillin’ near the boardwalk, looking very pleased with itself. That was only the second banana spider I’d ever seen. The first one was in our backyard, “guarding” the chicken coop like it was on official duty. Spiders may be a little spooky, but they’re great pest control, kind of like tiny, eight-legged security guards.
I still haven’t seen the monkeys, but I hear them all the time when we’re visiting. It’s like they’re playing hide and seek and winning every single round. I really love just standing there and listening to all the different animals in the park. Between the birds calling, the insects buzzing, and the monkeys chattering in the distance, it feels like the whole place is alive and talking to you.
New Path
We’d been waiting for this new path to open for a little over a year, and it finally happened, like a turtle finally deciding to cross the log. Totally worth the wait. The brand-new bridge over the river is absolutely gorgeous, the kind of spot that makes you want to just stop and breathe for a minute.
We lucked out with perfect timing and caught the sunset from the new bridge, and honestly, that was my favorite part of the whole trip this time. I’m pretty sure I found my new favorite spot. The sun glistens over the winding river just right, like a ribbon of light, and it shines through the leaves so they glow this soft golden color. It reminded me of how fireflies light up a field in summer, tiny and magical. If you can, try to time your visit for sunset. It was absolutely incredible and so worth planning around.
After we crossed the bridge, we turned left and followed the new sandy path. There are over 10 miles of trails you can get to from this side of the park, which feels a bit like discovering a whole new world. Fun fact: some birds can migrate thousands of miles and still find their way back to the same tree, and wandering these trails kind of gives you that same sense of coming back to something special.
Be Respectful of the Land
They used to have a zoo on this side, so you can still find and step into this old metal enclosure where they kept the big cats. It’s wild to stand there and imagine lions or tigers pacing around where you’re standing. There are tons of old structures tucked just off the path to see and explore, like little secret hideouts.
Just be careful and respectful when you wander off the main trail. These buildings aren’t directly on the path, and nature has started to reclaim them, kind of like how moss slowly covers old logs in the forest. Explore gently, watch your step, and let the place stay just as magical for the next curious soul who finds it.
Next time we come back to this park for another little adventure, we’re definitely checking out more of that new pathway. I’m way too curious to leave it unexplored. And of course I’ll be grabbing another ice cream for the journey, because walking without a snack is like a squirrel without a tree to climb.
Fun fact: some squirrels can bury thousands of nuts every year and still remember where a lot of them are. I can’t even remember where I put my keys half the time, but I can always remember where the ice cream stand is.
