William and I discovered the most relaxing river float in existence. It’s located just 20 miles north of Gainesville, Florida and the river is fed by a natural warm spring. Florida is known for its State Parks and this is a real gem.

It’s pretty simple to do. Just check in at the ranger station and pay your $6.00 entrance fee. Then go up to the general store and rent your choice of tube and your tram ride to the drop off point.

Make sure you go to the South Entrance of the Ichetucknee Park. At the General store you can rent anything from a single tube, a double tube, a kayak, or a canoe. We selected the double tube with a head rest and cup holder.

It didn’t take long to allow the slow ride down the river lull us into total relaxation.

There was nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the natural landscape of Northern Florida. Although there were several tubers that put in at the same time we did it was easy to hang back and let them float ahead of us so we had the whole river to ourselves.

We would get excited when we saw birds wading in the shallow waters.

Or turtles resting on the logs in the sun.

But when we floated close by this guy I have to admit that I did some quick paddling away from that side of the river.

The whole trip takes about 2 hours but with your entrance pass you can go down the river as many times as you like. We took the time to picnic in the parking lot at one of the picnic tables. Several families had a grill going and the smell of the burgers and hot dogs permeated the air. Ichetucknee State Park is a must do if you are ready to sit back, relax and enjoy the warm Florida weather.