Took a day trip while visiting friends that live in Gainesville to Dunnellon. Was an easy drive. Spent the day kayaking in April on the Rainbow River. We rented kayaks for a reasonable price. The Rainbow River flows south. The location where we started was south on the river about 4-5 miles from Rainbow Springs. It was a easy kayak paddle upstream as the current is not overpowering and easy to paddle against. We spent some of the afternoon Rainbow Springs State Park to picnic and hangout on shore. Beautiful area and clear water. Note, we did not camp at the state park and only spent a few hours but enjoyed our time. This was my first time kayaking in Florida. Awesome experience! Bring a GoPro or waterproof camera/phone to capture Rainbow River.