Ocala Florida

48 Hours in Ocala Florida is a quick weekend trip, but you can have tons of fun in that time. Located in Marion County Central Florida, there is a lovely downtown area, indoor and outdoor things to do, zip-lining, river tubing, and beautiful, and historic glass bottom boats. The Ocala National Forest is wild, beautiful and has so many wonderful trails and camping areas. You can easily spend more than a weekend here, but with only a weekend here are the must hits.

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Where is Ocala

Ocala Florida is located in Marion County Florida. It is 45 minutes south of Gainesville and 90 minutes northwest of Orlando Florida. It is considered Central Florida. The nearest beach is Fort Island Beach in Crystal River a little over an hour southwest.

Ocala has an International Airport, but it likely would be cheaper to fly in/out of Orlando or Jacksonville. Orlando can take quite a bit of time to get through security, unless you have TSA pre-check, which I highly recommend.

Where to Stay

Ocala has some great options with where to stay, there are quite a few options downtown which is nice for walkability in the morning for breakfast. If you are looking for more rural options, there are some camping options in the Ocala National Forest. You could also look for a house to rent for the weekend, this is the route we went, as there was a decent sized group of us. Hotels.com will have all of those options for you. As the traffic isn’t terrible in Ocala, you won’t be too far away anywhere you stay. The area immediately around Silver Springs State Park seems a bit run down, you may want to avoid that area if you can.

Hotels.com: The Obvious Choice. Book now and save! Hotels.com: The Obvious Choice. Book now and save!

Where to Eat

An ode to yummy coffee is required here, and the best coffee to be found in Ocala is downtown at Symmetry Coffee Crepes. Symmetry is located at 108 Magnolia Ave Ste 102 and normally closes at 3pm, but is also closed on Sunday. The crepes are super yummy with both savory and sweet options, and the coffee is delightful. They also give back to the community so double win there.

Located nearby is Brick City Southern Kitchen and Whiskey Bar, which has craft cocktails, whiskeys and BBQ. How could you go wrong there. They are open for lunch and dinner and is the perfect stop if you are looking for a place downtown.

Big Hammock Brewery & Bites is also open for lunch and dinner. They have delicious beer options, and amazing Ramen. It is seriously so good, you should go right now. Don’t let the small space fool you this is legit the boss of yummy in Ocala.

What Ocala is known For

Ocala is known as the Horse Capital of the World. It gets this distinction because over 80 years ago, Carl G. Rose built Rosemere Farm and within one year the horse won a horse competition in Miami. Seeing this horses success, another horse farm was built and won the Kentucky Derby shortly after. 1,200 more horse farms were developed over the years, and Marion County has become the place to raise thoroughbred horses in Florida.

Ocala is also known as the Brick City, this stemmed from a bit of tragedy. In 1883, a fire raged through the fast growing Ocala, destroying most of the city. Immediately the town started to rebuild, passing laws to ensure that the new buildings would be built of stone, brick and iron instead of lumber. In 1883, this caused Ocala to look vastly different than any other Florida town, and visitors began calling it the Brick City.

Indoor things to do

The Appleton Art Museum in Ocala is a great option for a rainy day. There are some lovely exhibits, and a whole wing devoted to art instruction, and creating your own art. This group of 14-35 year olds had a blast doing water colors, and watching the colors mix. The museum is free to enter so it is hard not to totally enjoy the whole experience. The drive and entrance are pretty impressive also.

Another option for indoor activities, is to visit an independent bookstore. Supporting local is always a great idea, there is an amazing used book store in Ocala, A Novel Idea. It has some new releases, and also a ton of great used books. The prices are great, and you can find some awesome treasures. The cat is very cute too, but they were sleeping when we came so we didn’t dare wake it.

Downtown Ocala

Ocala has a lively, and historic downtown area, make sure to look for the horse statues that are “roaming” around the area. They have been doing some awesome work on the downtown area and there are some very cool independent shops, restaurants and Symmetry Coffee & Crepes.

There is a cute gazebo that is lit up at night, and is super adorable for pictures. They also have some great wall murals that are worth the walk to see.

The Tipsy Skipper is a happy little tiki bar, and the drinks look like so much fun! You should definitely hit them up if you are looking for some fun drink options.

There is an outdoor market, the Ocala Downtown Market, located on Osceola Ave and open every Saturday at 9am, this is a great location to find some local produce, candles or locally made art pieces. What a great way to start the weekend.

Outdoor things to do

• Ocala National Forest
• Silver Springs State Park
• Zip the Canyons
• Rainbow Springs River Tubing
• Horseback Trail Rides

Ocala National Forest

Ocala National Forest was established in 1908, and it is the second largest nationally protected forest in the State of Florida. It covers 607 square miles and is located just 3 miles east of Ocala. It has over 600 natural lakes and ponds. The film “The Yearling” was filmed in the Ocala National Forest. Most of the black bears live in the Ocala National Forest. The US Navy has a bombing range here and they drop about 20,000 bombs per year here.

The Ocala National Forest is the perfect spot for year round recreation, it has a somewhat temperate climate year-round. It can get very warm in the summer, but the trees and shade help to keep the temps feeling more enjoyable. There are multiple hiking trails to chose from, the Florida Trail, Salt Springs Observation Trail, Lake Eaton Sinkhole Trail, St. Francis Trail, and Yearling Trail. If you are a biking enthusiast, then there is a the Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail, but it is not paved so prepare accordingly. If you like driving off road vehicles there are also tons of trails that support the activity.

There are 13 camping areas within Ocala National Forest, and they have varying degrees of camp support, from full RV hook-ups to just dry camping. They have lake front options, with boat launches, and water ski areas. There is surely a fit for your adventure, and the beauty here feels other-worldly.

If you are looking to truly get off the grid and into the wilderness, there are four official wilderness areas, The Alexander Springs Wilderness, The Billies Bay Wilderness, The Junipers Prairie Wilderness, and the Little Lake George Wilderness. Please remember your sunscreen and bug spray, there are tons of mosquitos and ticks here, especially in the rainy summer months.

Silver Springs State Park

There are 3 major things to do in Silver Springs State Park. First thing, hug a tree on your way in, the trees are huge, and hugging a tree is always a good idea. Second, go on a boat ride on an original glass bottom boat and see all the springs that feed the beautiful clear lake. Third, walk over to the kayak rental area, rent a kayak (maybe even a clear bottom one) and see what animals you can see, manatees tend to swim on the Silver River. If you still have a little time, the Ross Allen Boardwalk is also a lovely little walk through the trees, and by the kayak, and canoe paddle trail.

Zip the Canyons

Time for some serious adrenaline, with zip lines that extend 1,150 long and 155 feet high you will get the rush. These zip lines were built over and through and abandoned limestone mine. The years have made the area feel a lot like Jurassic Park, with some shear drops, over grown areas, and giant lakes. There are multiple package options, but for the price, the 9 zip package, and rappell down seemed the most fun. Go big or go home, right?

They get you into gear, train you on proper safety, do a trial run and away you go. It is super fun, the scenery is gorgeous and it is unique to Ocala. You won’t find this in Florida. You get a certificate at the end stating you completed the course, and it all feels so worth the rush. You will never believe how fast those two hours go.

Rainbow Springs River Tubing

Just 30 minutes south of Ocala is Rainbow Springs State Park. Make sure you go to the tube launch entrance, as there are two entrances, one to the main park area with a walking trail, and swimming area and one for the launch. The water is a cool 72 degrees like all spring feed water in Florida and the tubing is divine. The tube rental was $20 and entrance fee was $2 per person. They take you up to the launch point up river, and you finish back at the parking lot.

Just remember the water is nice and cool, but you will need the sunscreen because the sun will get you. We didn’t notice any mosquitos or biting bugs when we went down the river, so bug spray won’t be needed. It is fresh water so there might be gators, I didn’t see any, and they won’t bother you if you don’t bother them.

Horse Back Trail Rides

Ocala is known as The Horse Capital of the world, as such horses are everywhere here. You would be remiss if you did not take advantage of all the horse stables offering trail rides. Ocala is beautiful, and you can even do a trail ride through the Ocala National Forest.

When taking on this activity, you likely would enjoy it most in the Fall, Winter or early Spring. The summer is just so hot and sweaty, that I doubt you would enjoy the time on the horse. There are tons of options, so find the Horse Stable that has the price and option best for you.