If you live in Orlando and want a spring, these two are probably on your short list, and they couldn’t be built more differently. Kelly Park in Apopka is Orange County’s hometown lazy river: a short, cold, fast-flowing tube run out of Rock Springs, first-come first-served, famous for lines at the gate before dawn. Blue Spring State Park in Orange City is a state park with a first-magnitude spring, a boardwalk, a summer swimming run, and in winter the most spectacular manatee gathering in Florida — and since July 2026 it requires an advance reservation. One is about floating, the other about watching (and swimming when the manatees leave).
Pick Kelly Park if: you want the tube-and-picnic day and can arrive at opening. Pick Blue Spring if: you want a planned visit, manatees, or an easy boardwalk with little ones.
Quick answer
- Pick Kelly Park if your family wants a short, shallow, cold tube float that kids can repeat two or three times in a morning — and you’re willing to get there early or accept the risk of a closed gate.
- Pick Blue Spring if you’d rather book a guaranteed entry, see manatees in winter, or swim a clear run in summer, and you don’t need a tube.
Both in one trip? Possible but ambitious — roughly 35 miles apart, around 45 minutes to an hour by car depending on traffic. Kelly Park in the morning, Blue Spring in the afternoon is the only order that works.
They sit about 16 miles apart, which makes doing both in one trip realistic. Here is how they actually differ.
| Kelly Park / Rock Springs | Blue Spring State Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8.4 / 10 | 9 / 10 |
| Entry fee | $5 / vehicle, flat rate (verified, changed Aug 11 2026) | $6 / vehicle |
| Hours | 8am-8pm summer, 8am-6pm winter | 8am – sunset |
| Magnitude | 2nd magnitude | 1st magnitude |
| Nearest town | Apopka | Orange City |
| Best for | Orlando's hometown lazy river | Florida's greatest manatee spectacle |
| Good for | Camping, Family-Friendly, Snorkeling, Swimming, Tubing | Family-Friendly, Kayaking, Manatees, Snorkeling, Swimming |
| When to go | Weekday mornings, hands down — this is one of the most capacity-constrained springs on the list, and summer weekends routinely see cars lined up before the gate opens. If a weekend is your only option, arrive right at opening. | January is the single best month for manatee numbers — a hard cold front can bring hundreds. November through mid-March generally, but the coldest mornings are when it's worth the early alarm. June through September for swimming the run, when it's open and the crowds are lighter than winter's manatee rush. |
| Current conditions | Open · earliest-filling park in Central Florida on weekends · admission fee changed to a flat $5/vehicle (was tiered by occupancy) effective Aug 11, 2026, per ocfl.net (verified Sept 2026) | Open, reservation required · Since July 15, 2026 every day-use visitor needs an advance online reservation (up to 60 days out) to enter — confirmed on floridastateparks.org's Blue Spring day-use FAQ and reported by WUSF, ClickOrlando, and WFTV at rollout. Summer swim season is running now; manatee-driven swim closures return around mid-November. |
Kelly Park / Rock Springs
Rock Springs pours out of a rock face at the top of Kelly Park and runs a gentle three-quarter-mile lazy river perfect for cheap tubes and kids — the closest genuinely great spring run to Orlando, 30 minutes from downtown. Because it is close, cheap, and…
Local tip: Get there early, genuinely early — multiple families describe lining up outside the gate before opening on summer weekends, with some reports of cars queuing as early as 4:30am on the busiest days, and the park reaches capacity fast once it does open (Orange County caps it at roughly 280 vehicles for the morning session, then releases up to 50 more afternoon vouchers on a first-come basis after 1pm). There's a capacity hotline (407-254-1906) you can call ahead to check current status before making the drive, which is worth doing if you're coming any real distance. Water shoes aren't optional here — the spring floor is rocky, and more than a few reviewers learned that the hard way. Bring a waterproof bag for phones and snacks if you're floating the run, and bug spray if you plan to walk any of the nature trails afterward. Tubes must be inflated before you arrive or bought pre-inflated — there's no air pump on site, which catches people off guard if they show up with a flat tube expecting to fill it at the gate; tubes also can't exceed 5 feet in length or width. One small joy worth mentioning: deer sometimes come down to drink at the water's edge while people float by, close enough that kids get genuinely excited about it. Despite the short 20-30 minute float, plan on 3-4 hours total once you account for parking, tube setup, and doing the run more than once — almost nobody floats it just a single time.
Full guide, fees & map →Blue Spring State Park
From roughly November through March, hundreds of manatees crowd into Blue Spring's warm run to escape the cold St. Johns River — counts in recent winters have topped 700 on cold mornings. The boardwalk view of that gathering is one of the best wildlife spectacles in…
Local tip: Get there before 8am if manatee season is the plan. Multiple families have reported waiting 30+ minutes just to get through the gate by mid-morning, and the lot fills not long after — arrive at opening or you'll be standing in a line of cars instead of on the boardwalk. Since the July 2026 reservation requirement started, that early-arrival advice matters less for simply getting in the gate (your reservation does that) and more for beating other reserved visitors to the closest boardwalk parking and the best manatee-viewing spots once you're inside. There's a playground right near the parking lot, which is either a blessing or a curse depending on how badly your kids want to see manatees first — ours would happily get distracted there before we'd even reached the water. Worth knowing: the boardwalk is genuinely great for kids even without manatees, since the fish alone tend to hold their attention. The historic Thursby House has a porch with rocking chairs that's a nice spot for a parent to sit while the kids run the front lawn — small thing, but it's there if you need five minutes. Coverage of the new reservation rollout notes summer weekend day-use slots have been booking out days in advance, so treat the 60-day booking window as something to use immediately once your travel dates are set rather than a backup plan. The closest other springs on this site are De Leon Springs, about 25 minutes north, and Wekiwa Springs, about 45 minutes southwest — both worth having as a backup plan if Blue Spring's reservation slots are full for your dates.
Full guide, fees & map →Where they actually differ
Fees and what a family of four pays
Kelly Park charges a flat $5 per vehicle regardless of how many people are inside ($10 per bus), effective August 11, 2026, according to Orange County’s park page. That replaced the older tiered rate. Tubes are not rented inside the park; the usual source is Rock Springs Bar & Grill on Rock Springs Road at $7 for the day, and they hold your driver’s license until you return the tube. If all four of you rent, that’s $28, so a full day for two adults and two kids comes to about $33.
Blue Spring is $6 per vehicle (up to 8 people), or $4 solo and $2 per pedestrian, cyclist, or extra passenger, paid at booking. A family of four pays $6 and doesn’t need to rent anything to enjoy the boardwalk. Canoe and kayak rentals are available if you want to paddle outside manatee season. Camping is $24 per night plus tax, a $6.70 nonrefundable reservation fee, and $7 per night for utilities at RV sites, and cabins are $95 per night plus tax.
Crowds, reservations and capacity
This is the make-or-break difference. Kelly Park takes no general-admission reservations. On summer weekends it fills fast, with cars queuing before the 8am opening on the busiest days, and the county caps the park at roughly 280 vehicles for the morning session. It closes for the day once full — sometimes by 9am — but the first 50 cars in the overflow queue get vouchers for re-entry at 1pm. Orange County posts closure notices online, and there’s an info line at 407-254-1906 that’s worth calling before a long drive. Weekday mornings are calm; a packed Saturday afternoon can leave the water stirred up and murky.
Blue Spring flipped to a reservation model on July 15, 2026. You book up to 60 days ahead and pay the normal entry price; there’s no extra fee. A reservation guarantees one entry during park hours (8am to sunset), but you can’t just show up: only overnight campers, concession customers, and in-person annual pass buyers on weekdays are exempt. Summer weekend slots have been booking out days in advance. A cancellation gets a refund; a no-show doesn’t, and re-entry after leaving isn’t guaranteed.
The water and what you can do in it
Rock Springs is one of the coldest-feeling springs on this site, at a constant 68–72°F. The run is about three-quarters of a mile and takes 20–30 minutes to float, and most families budget three to four hours for parking, setup and doing it more than once. Bring your tube already inflated, since there’s no pump on site, and keep it under 5 feet. Water shoes matter because the bottom is rocky. Deer sometimes drink at the water’s edge as tubers pass.
Blue Spring’s run is a place to swim, snorkel and look, not tube. It runs about 73°F, and from roughly November 15 to March 15 it closes to swimmers and paddlers while manatees shelter there. You watch from the boardwalk, and you cannot swim with them (that’s Crystal River). A record 932 were counted one January morning in 2024. Come in summer instead and you get a gorgeous, clear run with gar, turtles and otters.
Food, facilities and dogs
Kelly Park has restrooms, showers, picnic pavilions, nature trails, and a campground with 26 sites plus 2 group sites, but no food service, so pack a picnic. No alcohol or glass is allowed, and pets are not permitted except ADA service animals. A wheelchair-accessible pool lift is available. Blue Spring has a snack bar, changing rooms, a playground near the lot, canoe and kayak rentals, and the 1872 Thursby House with a rocking-chair porch. Dogs are allowed in the park, though not in the water.
Best season
Kelly Park is a summer place on weekday mornings; in winter the tube run is bracingly cold and better suited to a walk or picnic. Blue Spring has two peak windows: January for manatees (the coldest mornings bring the biggest crowds), and June through September for a swim.
Doing both in one trip
You can, but only if you accept a tight schedule. Start at Kelly Park at the 8am opening (earlier on summer weekends), float a couple of laps, and leave by early afternoon. Blue Spring’s reservation lets you enter any time during park hours, so an afternoon slot works, though you’d get less time and your reservation entry is single-use. In winter the day flips: skip Kelly Park’s tube run (cold) and use Blue Spring for manatees plus the boardwalk. Most people are happier choosing one and giving it a full day.
Our pick
Pick Kelly Park if you want the classic Central Florida tubing childhood memory, you can be at the gate before it opens or come on a weekday, and you don’t mind bringing your own food and inflated tubes. It’s the more playful day, and the cheapest.
Pick Blue Spring if you want certainty and a wider season: a reserved entry, winter manatee viewing, an easy stroller-friendly boardwalk, and summer swimming in one park. It suits families with toddlers or grandparents better, and it never leaves you standing in a line of cars hoping the gate stays open.
For a summer weekday with school-age kids, Kelly Park is a blast. For anything between November and March, or any day you’d rather book than gamble, Blue Spring is the safer, more memorable choice.
Related reading: Wekiwa vs Kelly Park, Blue Spring vs Three Sisters, and Blue Spring vs Wekiwa.
FAQs
Can you reserve Kelly Park?
No. Orange County doesn’t take reservations for general admission, so it’s first-come, first-served. Arrive early and check the county’s closure notices or the 407-254-1906 info line.
Do you need a reservation for Blue Spring?
Yes, since July 15, 2026. Book online up to 60 days ahead. The only exemptions are overnight campers, concession customers, and weekday in-person annual pass buyers.
What if Kelly Park is full when I arrive?
The park closes at capacity, sometimes as early as 9am on summer weekends. The first 50 cars in the overflow queue receive vouchers for re-entry at 1pm.
Where do you get tubes for Kelly Park?
Not in the park. Rock Springs Bar & Grill at 4939 Rock Springs Road rents them for $7 a day and holds your driver’s license as collateral. Inflate before you arrive; there’s no pump on site.
Which is better with toddlers?
Blue Spring’s flat boardwalk and playground make it the easier day. Kelly Park’s shallow run is also good for young kids, but the cold water and crowds can be harder on very small children.
Can I bring my dog to either?
Blue Spring allows dogs in the park, not in the water. Kelly Park doesn’t allow pets other than ADA service animals.