The Crystal River Archaeological Park was both amazing and creepy to me. The park has burial grounds for Native Americans as well as temple mounds. There were a total of six mounds on the property. The first mound was the tallest, with a long staircase. Climbing up the stairs and then standing on top of a that mound was just crazy but the view was gorgeous! I was there during a full moon and they give a full moon tour at the park, at night, but I was not ready to experience something like that.
I walked around the park, looking at the other mounds, reading what I could to grasp the history of the land. It is cool that we have preserved things from the cultures before us. It would be better if those cultures were around to share the stories with us personally but at this point I will take what I can get.
As I continued my walk around the park I spotted many casualties of Hurricane Matthew. Huge trees had met their demise as gusty Matthew came through and blew them over. I was having a good time taking pictures, pretending I knocked the trees down when a mosquito attack ensued. That was my cue to move on and head to the car.
Before you visit, make sure you check out the parks website for all of the up-to-date park information: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/crystal-river-archaeological-state-park
