A variety of commercial vendors, located outside the entrance to the park, rent tubes and rafts for a modest fee.

Park wildlife includes: North American river otter, North American beaver, turtle, ibis, wood stork, egret, great blue heron, cormorant, anhinga, belted kingfisher, limpkin, wild turkey, wood duck, white-tailed deer, raccoon, nine-banded armadillo, wild boar, The fish are primarily bream, bluegill, largemouth bass, alligator gar, mullet, and catfish.

[6] The river was a popular swimming and tubing location for locals and University of Florida students up through the 1960s, which led to litter and other problems.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection commissioned studies which showed that nutrient levels were steadily increasing.

Additionally, some swimmers and tubers began to report strange skin rashes, possibly caused by algae fed by nutrients introduced into the aquifer.