River Rise Preserve State Park in north Florida centers on the Santa Fe River’s unusual course, where the river disappears underground at nearby O'Leno State Park and returns to the surface here after about three miles. The preserve was established in 1974 when the state acquired 4,500 acres. Its significance lies not only in protecting this distinctive natural land bridge and river system, but also in preserving a corridor long used for travel. Indigenous communities, the Spanish Mission Trail or El Camino Real, and later Bellamy Road in early American Florida all followed this crossing for centuries.