News

Hillsborough River State Park Wins Multiple Outdoor Recreation Awards

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:22:00 -0700

~Hillsborough River State Park recognized as an America's 'Top Spots' by ReserveAmerica~

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Florida Park Service was recently honored by ReserveAmerica in the 2010 Outdoor Awards: America's Top Campgrounds. ReserveAmerica, one of the largest providers of campground reservation services, honored Florida State Parks in 17 categories for outdoor recreation, including 15 parks named to the Top 100 Family Campgrounds. Florida's state parks were also honored in multiple other categories including canoeing, biking and hiking.

"The Florida Park Service is honored to be recognized in a total of 17 categories on America's Top 100 Campgrounds list," said Florida Park Service Director Mike Bullock. "Providing clean, affordable and enjoyable places for Florida residents and visitors to recreate while continuing to restore our natural and cultural resources is our mission."

Top 100 Family Campgrounds

Hillsborough River State Park (Rank 15)

Top 25 Canoeing Spots

Hillsborough River State Park (Rank 1)

Top 50 Scenic Views

Hillsborough River State Park (Rank 30)

Top 25 Tours & Events

Hillsborough River State Park (Rank5)

Top 25 Water Recreation Parks

Hillsborough River State Park (Rank 1)

For more information on the list of honorees, visit http://www.active.com/outdoors/Articles/2010-Outdoor-Awards-Americas-Top-Campgrounds.htm.

Created in 1935 by the Florida Legislature, the Florida State Park system has grown from eight to 160 parks in the last 75 years. Today, the Florida Park Service manages more than 700,000 acres of Florida's natural environment, including 100 miles of beaches, eight National Historic Landmarks and 39 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Florida State Parks has been recognized by the National Recreation and Park Association as the nation's first and only two-time Gold Medal winner for the nation's best park service.

To learn more about the75th Anniversary and the history of Florida State Parks, visit www.floridastateparks.org/history. To follow Florida State Parks on Twitter, visit www.Twitter.com/FLStateParks.

Landing Zone Evaluation at Hillsborough River State Park

Sun, 09 May 2010 19:39:00 -0700

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Aviation Support Unit & Florida Park Police supported the park by identifying a new, primary landing zone for the state park. This new GPS landing zone will be utilized for future medical transport flights near our ½ acre pool area and will provide regular assistance to ground units for search & rescue operations on our trail systems.

2010 Get Real Program

Sun, 09 May 2010 18:10:00 -0700

Park Ranger Kate Smithson leads the Get REAL!, which stands for Recreational and Environmental Adventures in Learning, focuses on using Florida State Parks as "classrooms without walls." The initiative builds on the parks' broad multicultural, educational and recreational programs to enrich learning and integrate the use of state parks with local community programs. This is the fourth year that Hillsborough River State Park and the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Dept. have partnered together to provide the Get REAL program for school-aged children, to boost interest and participation in outdoor recreation. (Fishing, Camping, Hiking and Canoeing.)

This three day program offered a variety of education activities to 26 youths that haven't had the exposure to an outdoor camping experience.

Wanted: Creatures of the Night Volunteers

Thu, 06 May 2010 22:17:00 -0700

For some, Halloween is an excuse to dress up in costumes and have a good time with friends; for others it is also an opportunity to volunteer. Halloween this year is no exception. There are several opportunities to partake in, ranging from a children's coloring contest, tram rides in the park, spooky displays on the hunted trail or guiding tours through haunted trail. "There is a lot to do right now. It is a great time for community service," said CSO President Dan Casella. If you desire a more interactive and ghostly experience, volunteer at the Haunted Trail. Volunteers are needed to set up and take down decorations, lead tours, and dress up as the ghosts of virulent patients and sketchy, uncertified doctors. We also need event support volunteers on Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23 working the main entrance. Those interested can attend Haunted Woods planning meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010, Thursday Sept. 30, 2010, Tuesday, October 5, 2010, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 and Thursday, October 21, 2010. All meetings will be at 7:00 pm at the recreation hall (parking lot#3) at Hillsborough River State Park. All volunteers will need to submit a Florida State Park Volunteer application to participate in this event:

Stampede of Service

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:42:00 -0800

Hillsborough River State Park (HRSP) participated in the University of South Florida's (USF) Stampede of Service on Saturday, January 16, 2010 in-park area clean-up in preparation for our District IV Volunteer Appreciation in March 2010. Hillsborough River State Park will be the site location to host this important annual volunteer event. Stampede of Service was founded in 2006 by a student, Maxon Victor, who wanted to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. It has now become one of the largest traditions that University of South Florida has to offer. This one day community service celebration is led by students to get the word out about volunteering. In 2009, 2600 students participated in the event. Students are assigned a social issue and sent throughout Hillsborough County learning and engaging in service for the day. HRSP hosted 75 student volunteers for this annual one-day 2010 event. HRSP gives on-going resources to various organizations to participate in community service on a constant basis. The purpose of partnering with community organizations is to get the younger generations involved in environmental issues!

Ft. Foster Historic Site at Hillsborough River State Park

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:32:00 -0800

By: Elaine Lund, Hillsborough County Historic Preservation Program and TPI's Cornerstone newsletter. Hillsborough County's archaeological resources include prehistoric campsites, burial mounds, shell middens, quarries and manufacturing sites for tools, along with historic archaeological sites, such as Fort Foster. Scattered artifacts, usually tools or fragments of pottery, are the most common indicators of an archaeological site. Most of the identified archaeological resources in Hillsborough County date from the Archaic Period (7500-500 BC). The second most common type of identified archaeological resources in this County dates from the historic periods.

Fort Foster State Historic Site, part of Hillsborough River State Park, is considered a historic archaeological site. While the original fort buildings are no longer standing, there remains a wealth of historic artifacts in the ground. Fort Foster, established in 1836 and abandoned in 1849, safeguarded the Fort King Military Road Bridge over the Hillsborough River during the Second Seminole War. Today the park contains a replica of the fort and an interpretive center.

Statewide Eagle Scout Award

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:18:00 -0700

Matthew Boggs was named Florida State’s Youth Volunteer of the year for his Eagle Scout project at Hillsborough River State Park. He designed and built trail kiosks and placed station trail markers along two of HRSP's trails. The station markers were GPS mapped so hikers along the trail can be easily located in an emergency.

“Old into New” at Hillsborough River State Park

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:36:00 -0700

Hillsborough River State Park in the past years has received a new and improved park concession called the “Spirit of the Woods” Cafe’ and gift shop. With that being said the old park concession “Outpost” was standing vacant. The question was “What do we do with the old park concession?” Park Manager Kim Tennille and Volunteer Dave Moulton came up with a creative idea to breathe new life into this old structure.

Plans were drawn up to transfer the old park concession into a new, rental picnic pavilion for our park visitors. This innovative transformation was due to the hard work and dedication from one of HRSP’s finest volunteers “David Moulton”. Before he retired, Dave had a previous background as a construction manager in the private sector. The new pavilion was re-name “Blazing Star” and has taken on a new and attractive appearance. Since its completion this pavilion is being used every weekend by our park visitors and offers a new revenue source for the park. We can’t say it enough “Our volunteers are the best!”

Converting a U.S. Military 6x6 into a Type 5 Wild Land Fire Engine

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:29:00 -0700

Hillsborough River State Park has taken advantage of the Federal Excess Personal Property Program to gain additional fire fighting equipment. This program was authorized under terms of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. It is a low-cost approach to acquire additional fire protection equipment from the Division of Forestry and is on loan to support rural and wild land fire protection programs. Hillsborough River State Park/Fort Foster Historic Site has received collaborative agency assistance from local area Division of Forestry supervisor Patrick Keogh and FPS “finest” Rosi Mulholland our Division Fire Coordinator to build and create a Type 5 fire fighting unit. Having these additional resources within our park will aid in our on-going burn program and helpful in the event of a possible wildfire situation.