I just received a message from one of my fellow Full-Time RVing volunteer campground hosts. Alisha and her family are hosting in Rainbow Springs State Park over the next couple of months and need a partnered couple for the camping area. The campground is fairly big with 54 reservable campsites including 44 RV/Tent, 3 RV only,
7 Tent Only, laundry rooms and has 4 bath houses that need to be cleaned daily. The sites are checked and cleaned when the campers leave, of course. The RV/Tents sites all have electric, water and sewers on site which is extremely nice for the campers but the Tent-Only area only has electric with water faucets. And there is landscaping to help keep clean and looking neat. During the week the campground office opens at 10 am Friday 8:30 am on Saturday. You can start cleaning bathrooms whenever you like, but you can’t pick up the camping report until the office opens.
There are only two golf carts but they are to be cleaned and put away after you are done for the day. There is a washer, dryer and upright freezer in a room by the campground kayak launch for the volunteers. Also, volunteers get to sign out kayaks at no charge, and campers and volunteers can use their “care pass” to get into the headsprings area.
The Physical address of the Campground is (18185 SW 94th St. Dunnellon, FL 34432) and is NOT the address of the Main Park, (19158 SW 81st Pl Rd. Dunnellon, FL 34432). Actually, that is a pretty nice deal as the campers also have their own park-like area where they can get into the water to canoe, kayak, snorkel, and fish. During the spring and summer months, the campground entrance gate is kept closed to keep on all the tubing visitors from coming in.
“April 1st – September 30th: The main camping gate is closed daily due to heavy day use traffic. Please call 352-465-8550 between the hours of 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM for the gate code.
October 1st – March 31st: The main gate will be open from 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM. If arriving outside of those hours, please call 352-465-8550 (between the hours of 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM) for the gate code.”
From what we understand the rangers in charge of the Campground Store, Checking People In, etc. are very nice and easy to work with. It is just a lot of work when there are not enough volunteer campground hosts to help lighten the load. Now if you are into pretty scenery, cool springs, canoeing/kayaking/tubing, fishing, watching wildlife, photography, and walking nature trails this would be a great place to spend a couple of months. (See our Park Review for a video of our stay and more information). There is nothing quite like being able to stay in a beautiful place like this with modern conveniences but a rural setting with fresh air, lovely water features and good people to meet.
Currently, they do not have a volunteer coordinator for the park. You might want to fill out the application, print it off as a PDF and save it to your computer. That way you can send it as an attachment in an email. Contact the Park Management staff directly for more information.
Resident Park Manager
Larry A. Steed
(352) 465-8555
Email: larry.steed@dep.state.fl.us
Resident Assistant Park Manager
Robert W. Dampman
(352) 465-8555
Email: robert.dampman@dep.state.fl.us
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