Friends of O'leno

ABOUT US

Located on upland hardwood hammock lands between Gainesville and Lake City and sprawling over Alachua and Columbia counties, the 6,000+ acre O’Leno State Park and neighboring River Rise Preserve State Park have become popular day use and overnight recreational destinations for many Floridians and other travelers. O’Leno State Park, on the banks of the Santa Fe River, stands on the site of an old 1800s town named Keno—for a game of chance. The name was soon corrupted to Leno, and then O’Leno. Some of the original structures along the river were constructed by the CCC in the 1930s, like the huge log pavilion recently refurbished. The main Park features hiking, bicycling, canoeing and kayaking, swimming, nature study and birdwatching, family and group picnicking, and camping.