OCALA: Silver Springs - "Nature's Theme Park", the Ocala National Forest, rolling green fields of horse farms, historic districts and city streets canopied by 100-year-old trees, outstanding golf courses, friendly communities, crystal-clear rivers, and fresh-water springs. This, coupled with the subtropical climate, is what makes Marion County and its county seat Ocala a vacation land year-round.

OTHER PLACES Boca Raton Bonita Springs Bradenton Brooksville Clearwater Captiva Island Charlotte Harbor Cocoa Beach Daytona Beach Daytona Beach Shores DeLand Destin Emerald Coast Everglades Ft Lauderdale Flagler Beach Fort Myers Fort Myers Beach Fort Pierce Fort Walton Beach Gainesville Gulf Islands Hollywood Jacksonville Key Largo Key West Kissimmee Lake Buena Vista Lake City Lakeland Marco Island Marianna Melbourne Miami Miami Beach Naples Ocala Orlando Ormond Beach Panama City Pensacola Plantation Pompano Beach Punta Gorda Sanibel Sarasota Sebring Siesta Key Space Coast South Walton Beaches St Augustine St Petersburg Tallahassee Tampa Titusville Vero Beach West Palm Beach

The county is a successful blend of past and present. Drive down Fort King Street in the Ocala historic district, and you will be impressed by the obvious care taken with the renovation and preservation of the area's homes. The Ocala Historic District, offers the opportunity to take a walking tour through stately neighborhoods of lovely Victorian homes. Fort King Street was named after the military post of Fort King, the site of which is within city limits. Fort King was built prior to the Second Seminole War of Florida (1835-1842). Your walking tour will travel from prehistoric finds, to the modern day, within a few blocks. On Friday and Saturday evenings, horse drawn carriage rides bring a touch of the past to visitors. Each spring dogwoods, azaleas, and other colorful flowers invite visitors to drive along the tree-shaded streets. Marion County's land and waters offer a wealth of recreational opportunities. Several outstanding attractions reflect millions of years of life. The most impressive is Silver Springs, the largest artesian spring system, by water flow, in the world. Here, evidence of prehistoric animals goes back more than a million years; traces of man a mere 10,000. For more than a century the springs have been a tourist attraction - Florida's first - with early visitors arriving by stagecoach and steamboat. Today, visitors of all ages enjoy the 350-acre nature theme park at Silver Springs and the adjacent Wild Waters water park. The park's world-famous Glass-Bottom boats offer a window on the underwater life and magnificent formations of Silver Springs. Other cruises on the park's waterways offer views of Florida wildlife, as well as more exotic environments and the wild animals that inhabit them. At every turn are exciting and educational experiences from the world's largest American crocodile to the long-necked giraffe. SILVERSPRINGS Nearly three-quarters of the Ocala National Forest is in Marion County. The Forest offers 383,573 acres of unique ecological sites, trails, natural springs with designated trails for horseback riding. Specially marked walking/hiking trails are located throughout this wonderful resource. Lake Eaton Sinkhole and the Lake Eaton Loop are only two of the trails that allow the visitor to explore the area on easily traveled interpretive trails. Fore Lake Recreation Area is a day use and camping area that is open year-round. A 250-foot sandy beach provides swimming and sunbathing opportunities. Fishing and boating in small, non-gasoline powered craft are allowed, and a fishing pier is at the southeast corner of the lake. One can't be in Marion County without becoming aware immediately that this is officially the "Horse Capital of the World." Horses are big business in Marion County. More than three-quarters of Florida's 600 Thoroughbred breeding and training facilities are located in the Ocala area. The county is one of only four major Thoroughbred centers in the world, and is equal to Lexington, Kentucky; Newmarket, England; and Chantilly, France. Each spring, for five weeks, the "Horse Shows in the Sun" (HITS) stages one of the largest hunter/jumper shows in the United States. Several horse farms welcome visitors to tour. Visitors who bring their own horses can ride forest and greenway trails. Apart from Ocala, four incorporated cities (Belleview, Reddick, Dunnellon and McIntosh), each with its own charm, history, and lifestyle, dot the rolling green hills. Visitors come from across the country to tube on Dunnellon's beautiful Rainbow River; fish the Withlachoochee River; and visit Rainbow Springs State Park, and Marion County's KP Hole Park. Dunnellon has several outstanding golf courses. Once a wild boomtown created by miners drawn to rich phosphate deposits, Dunnellon remembers its past with a weekend-long springtime celebration called Boomtown Days Festival, which draws thousands of residents and visitors to the town's downtown area. Dunnellon is known for its variety of water-related sports, excellent fishing, and hometown hospitality. Twenty miles north of Ocala on U.S. 441 near the Alachua County border is McIntosh. This small town (just over 400 residents) calls to the antique lover in all of us and each year attracts thousands of visitors from around Florida to its "1890 Days Festival." A quaint, turn-of-the century village, McIntosh is on the shores of Orange Lake, so named for the grove of wild oranges which sprang, some say, from seeds discarded by Spanish explorers 400 years ago. OCALA

Getting there: Marion County is often called the crossroads of Florida, and rightly so. Its location in the north of the central part of the state puts it within an hour or two of major metropolitan areas. Ocala is the hub of the system of federal and state highways that crisscross this country. There is easy access from Interstate 75 for north/south travel, from U.S. highways 27, 301, and 441, and state roads 40 and 200, which connect Ocala with points east to the Atlantic and west to the Gulf of Mexico. Gainesville Regional Airport, which is a 35-mile drive from Ocala, serves the region with connections nationwide. International flights are less than two hours away in Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. AMTRAK provides daily passenger train service.

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