Big Shoals Public Lands is a 3,782 acre land preserve that features the largest whitewater rapids in Florida. The park has 33 miles of wooded trails for daytime recreational use. Bird watching, picnicking, bicycling, hiking, canoeing, kayaking and horseback riding are encouraged. Fishing is permitted with proper licensing. Limited hunting is permitted in designated areas and is administered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The shoals is a one-mile stretch of rapids formed by water coursing over a limestone bed with rocky outcroppings. When the water level is between 59 and 61 feet mean sea level, the Big Shoals rapids earns a Class III White Water classification for kayaking. A smaller set of rapids downstream along the Suwannee River is called Little Shoals. During six months of the year the water is too low to create rapids, but the river bed and banks display rocky outcroppings and overhangs, small caves, sand bars, and an abundance of wildlife.

The conservation area contains about three miles of river frontage. Steep bluffs along the banks of the Suwannee River afford unique natural vistas that are uncommon elsewhere in the state. The land preserve offers visitors a rare opportunity to see Florida’s natural landscape in a relatively undisturbed state.

Big Shoals Public Lands is cooperatively managed by:

Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Recreation and Parks
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Division of Forestry
Suwannee River Water Management District
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Driving Directions

Take Interstate 75 to Hwy 136 East (Milepost Exit 439 - Old Exit 84). Go three miles to Hwy 41. Turn right and travel less than a mile to Hwy 135. Turn left on Hwy 135. Little Shoals entrance is approximately 5 miles on the right. To enter through the Big Shoals entrance, continue past the Little Shoals entrance for another 4.5 miles. Big Shoals entrance is on the right.

Big Shoals State Park P.O. Drawer G White Springs, Florida 32096 Phone: 386-397-4331 Park Manager: Valinda Subic