Big Shoals State Park: Bicycling the Woodpecker Trail

On a beautiful day in White Springs FL there are many outdoor activity options:  hike the parks and natural areas, bicycle the town or parks, canoe the river, stroll the town, or sit on the river bank. 

Suwannee River at Big Shoals State Park

Canoeing the Suwannee River is always fun but the river is just over 51 feet so the rocks and logs would require a bit of portage... forget that idea.

Time tested guidelines for canoeing
on the Suwannee River

So, we selected my favorite mode of transportation, the bicycle.  Sometimes I believe I was born on a bicycle but it was my buddy from the age of three when my grandmother gave me my first tricycle.  Wheels... let's go!

The Suwannee is quite tame now

Big Shoals State Park it is!  Off to ride the Woodpecker Trail, a 3.5 mile one way paved trail between the Little Shoals entrance and the Big Shoals picnic area.  We bicycled from Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park down CR 135 to the Little Shoals entrance. Taking the small road into Little Shoals we crossed into the State Park Property  and road the paved Woodpecker Trail, no vehicle traffic, to Big Shoals.  

Trail to the canoe launch and river overlook

This is a lovely ride through oaks, restored pine forest, logged pine forest, and scrub.  Along the way you cross a few bridges which still had some water flow in the creeks.  After exploring the trails near the picnic area we hiked down to the canoe launch for a better view of the river.  And then returned by the same route.  It was a perfect day for a bicycle trip.

Hard to believe six months ago this river was raging!
And two years ago it was out of the banks