Troy Springs State Park in Branford, Florida is a small little park with a lovely spring right next to the Suwannee River. You can picnic, swim (when the water in the Suwannee River is down), scuba dive in the spring and canoe and kayak up and down the river as well as get in a spot of fishing. The park has no camping amenities not even primitive. But they do have RV Sites set up for volunteers in exchange for working with the park ranger and manager in the park. We visited this park last year and were going to volunteer there but we couldn’t get our timing worked out. It seems we may be going there next year though and we look forward to it. However, they still need help this summer. If you, a family member or a friend would like to stay in a lovely, shady state park in exchange for a little cleaning, lawn care and maintenance work we hope you will fill out the application and get in touch with the Volunteer Coordinator. Her information is listed at the bottom of this article. Below are her answers to some of the questions we would ask of any of the state parks we were considering volunteering for:
What types of volunteer “Live On Site” positions do you have?
Troy Spring has 2 Resident Volunteer positions available for Park Host. (And I’m looking to fill those positions immediately, so please feel free to pass on the word)! J
What kinds of duties will they be doing?
I’m attaching a Park Host position description for your reference…please feel free to utilize it in your blog!!! click here to get this great information sheet.
How many campsites to you have?
We have 0 campsites/campgrounds, but we do have 2 full hook-up sites available for Resident Volunteers. We welcome individual volunteers or couples.
Do they have electric (what kind 20/30/50Amp)/water/sewer on site?
Both sites are considered full hook-up: electric (20, 30, and 50 amp with a max. load of 70 amps), water, and septic.
What other amenities do you offer these volunteers? (free laundry, firewood, etc)
We don’t have a washer/dryer available or firewood available like many other parks do, since we’re so small-scale. However, what we can’t offer in terms of common amenities, we can offer in terms of natural beauty, solitude, and close proximity to many other spring parks and natural areas. We’re also ~2 hours from Tallahassee and Jacksonville/St. Augustine, ~1.5 hours from Gainesville, and ~45 minutes from Lake City. Resident Volunteers are also welcome and encouraged to utilize the park during their free-time.
Tina Miller
Troy Springs State Park
Park Services Specialist/Volunteer Coordinator
Tina.Miller@dep.state.fl.us
(386) 935-4835
The pictures below are from our visit there last year. Sadly, the river is still quite high but is slowly going down. Hopefully, by the first of June it will be down enough so that you can see the spring once more and swimming and scuba diving will be opened to the public once more.
You must be logged in to post a comment.