O'Leno State ParkApr 28, 2009
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I have the only pull-thru campsite in the park!
O'Leno SP is six miles north of High Springs, on the Santa Fe River, just north of where the river goes underground for 3 miles before rising again! It eventually flows into the Suwanee River. The land over it is called the Natural Land Bridge (naturally!), and it was a popular method to cross the river (ha!). The old Spanish trail and the first federally funded road connecting St. Augustine and Pensacola used this crossing.
Leno was founded in the mid 1800s along the banks of the Santa Fe River just upstream from where the river disappears. The 1896 Florida railroad bypassed the town, causing its quick decline - by 1900, the town was gone and only mill dams remain to prove it existed. O'Leno is a contracted form of "Old Leno". The Florida Board of Forestry bought the area in the early 1930s and the park was developed by the CCC and the Works Progress Authority. The swing bridge, lodge, fire tower, and a few other buildings are products of their labor.
Once I was set up and rested, I rode my bike to the picnic area, then walked across the swing bridge and on a short trail. I found where the river seems to end - there is a lot of green duckweed on top of the water and I could see fish mouths feed on it! A little upstream is a small area of rapids, where the dams were to produce power for the mills. I saw two armadillos and 4 deer on this trail, but I didn't have my camera with me!
