Big Shoals State Park

White Springs, Florida

We slept in until 7am this morning, had a couple cups of coffee and got out the door by about 8:30 am.  That’s a record for us lately.  We seem to have good intentions, but manage to piddle around too long in the morning and don’t manage to get out the door until late morning.

Our goal was to explore Big Shoals State Park.  It’s a a day use park and offers no camping facilities.  

They  have one work camper site though that is very nice.  The only problem I see with the site is the sewer hook up is next door.   It appears that you have to either have a real long sewer hose, or move your Rv to dump your tanks.  It would be a wonderful place to volunteer.

Here is the description of the state park from their website:

Big Shoals State Park features the largest whitewater rapids in Florida. Limestone bluffs, towering 80 feet above the banks of the Suwannee River, afford outstanding vistas not found anywhere else in Florida. When the water level on the Suwannee River is between 59 and 61 feet above mean sea level, the Big Shoals rapids earn a Class III Whitewater classification, attracting thrill-seeking canoe and kayak enthusiasts. Over 28 miles of wooded trails provide opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding and wildlife viewing.

 

There is a 3.4 mile long paved trail called the Woodpecker trail.  We did a short walk on it, but it didn’t go near the river, so we headed back after about half a mile.  Al was wondering what his heart rate was since we were walking pretty fast.  Let me see now…maybe Droid knows?  Sure enough there is an App (several actually) so that you can check your heart rate!   Later we wondered how far we had gone and didn’t have our little gps with us.  I checked the Apps and found several of those as well.  Yesterday we found the compass we were looking for and today these two apps.  I think you just have to keep your mind open to the possibility of what you may want and check.  Chances are, there’s an app for it :)

This is the Woodpecker Trail.  It would be a nice bike trail.

We found a nice two mile round trip trail along the river to the shoals.  The river is very low and the shoals are more exposed than normal. 

The Big Shoals

Some White Ibis feeding in the low waters.

The Turkey Vultures have arrived. 

It’s a real nice park to spend a day. There is a nice picnic area and lots of trails for hikers, mountain bikers or the paved trail for regular bikes.

The temperature started to warm up and we headed into town to the Telford Hotel Bed and Breakfast.  They have a nice lunch buffet with pretty good southern cooking. 

We got some rain this afternoon and our bedroom slide is still leaking.  We were hoping we had fixed it, but apparently not.  Back to square one.

We’re leaving tomorrow so that we can be home for our Saturday garage sale.  We like getting rid of stuff and the money is kind of nice too :)  Still no offers on the house : (