Big Shoals State Park Needs Volunteers Too jolenemac455, May 23, 2014 Big Shoals State Park Needs Volunteers Too this summer and next. It is a day-use only park with canoeing and kayaking as well as hiking trails. We haven’t had a chance to visit this one yet but we did drive through the Little Shoals area a few years ago. I guess, “Shooting the Rapids” is the main actively for a lot of visitors to this park. But there are picnic areas, you can fish and ride your horses there as well. This park is a couple miles away from the Stephen Foster Memorial State Park in White Springs, Florida. We accepted an assignment here for the end of the year. We received two emails with information about being a Park or Residential Host here and decided to just copy and paste the information directly into our article below. 1st Email: In regards to Big Shoals volunteer facilities, we have one site for volunteers and that site has water and electric. There is a connector to sewer just shy of 50 feet away, so it is generally most practical to dump when needed via the hose from your RV, that is what the current hosts do. The site is directly next to the day use area restrooms, so that is often helpful in regards to black water. There are coin laundry facilities in the campground at Stephen Foster, about fifteen minutes away and a laundromat in White Springs, that is a little closer. Being the sole volunteers at Big Shoals, there are not additional facilities, nor is there a traditional shop with fridge or anything like that. There is no camping in the park, other than the one volunteer site. There will be a john deer gator to enable you to tow the blower down the paved woodpecker trail and to assist in hauling fallen branches or trail trimming debris, trash, etc. The woodpecker trail is 3.4 miles long and terminates at one of the park’s two clivus multrum, composting toilets. So basically duties are keeping day use areas and trails clean and trimmed, blowing off the paved trail at least once a week, maintaining the cleanliness of the main restrooms and two composting ones, and opening and closing the park gates a few times a week. Some of the trails are not wide enough for a vehicle, so will need to be checked on foot occasionally for trash and trimming. It is exceptionally peaceful and quiet. It is beautiful and the host site is very near the river. 2nd Email: What types of volunteer “Live On Site” positions do you have? We have one host site in the Big Shoals day use area. What kinds of duties will they be doing? Cleaning restrooms, emptying garbage cans, stocking brochures/maps, trimming trails, blowing off areas, picking up trash, minor repairs. How many campsites do you have? Currently no camping. Day use only. Do they have electric (what kind 20/30/50Amp)/water/sewer on site? 50amp electric, water and there is a sewer cleanout that can be used to dump tanks. What, if any, camping rig limits to you have? Site will accommodate 40 foot rigs What other amenities do you offer these volunteers? (free laundry, firewood, etc) see previous email Teri Graves Park Services Specialist/Volunteer Coordinator Big Shoals State Park 11330 S.E. County Road 135 White Springs, Florida 32096 (386) 397-4331 teri.l.graves@dep.state.fl.us Should you have any addition questions about the park or being a volunteer please contact the Volunteer Coordinator directly. And you can always fill out an application online at: https://www.floridastateparks.org/content/volunteers-how-apply Campground Host Experiences Park Info Volunteer At A Florida State Park Workamping Big Shoals State ParkCollege Students Volunteer This Summer at Florida State ParksFree Campsites for VolunteeringNortheast Florida State Parks Needs VolunteersSummer Time Volunteers Needed in Florida State ParksTeachers Volunteer This Summer at Florida State ParksVolunteering at Big Shoals State Park