Silver Springs State Park, Florida

Mirror, mirror on the … water? Yep, the glass-like surface of Silver River is super reflective, so you’ll be seeing two of everything -- so make sure you’re looking good before you peer over the edge of your kayak. Leave a wide berth while you paddle downstream; you’ll be sharing the river with turtles, gators, and glass-bottom boats -- catch a ride on these kitschy vessels for a small fee when they depart from the headspring. Back on land, hike or bike through the 15 miles of trails that wind through soupy marshlands dotted with bald cypress trees; there’s a special trail for equestrians, too. Don’t want to stray too far from the river? You don’t have to, since this park has lush landscaped gardens and a pioneer cracker village you can explore right off of the river bank. But whether you plan to spend your day at Silver Springs State Park on the water or off, don’t forget your bugspray! This is Florida, after all.

Oh, and yes, monkeys. Six feral rhesus macaque monkeys were released in the park in the mid 1930s as a way to draw tourists. Like many invasive species from Asia, they adored the climate and the food available, and now their numbers are closer to 1,000. A lucky paddler might catch a monkey splash party, because they love to climb up the trees and do belly-flops into the river!