Last weekend, I took advantage of an overcast morning and drove over to Hillsborough River State Park. The place had been on my must-visit list for quite some time so I was delighted to finally get there.

The park was established in 1938 to protect a rare, natural feature in Florida, Class II rapids. As you can imagine, in a state with the lowest “high point” in the country (354′ at Britton Hill), Florida rivers do not have a lot of opportunity to drop.

In an effort to preserve the siliceous limestone outcropping that underlies the riffles, wading and swimming are not allowed on the property. This interesting local geology also inspired the name of the nearby town of Thontosassa, which derives from Seminole-Creek language meaning “flint” “some”.

As with its other early parks (like Hammock Highlands State Park that I visited last summer), the state took advantage of the Civilian Conservation Corps to develop the land. There are numerous CCC-constructed features still visible throughout the park, most notably the suspension bridge.