SPRINGFIELD - Winter weather across the state has taken a varied toll on Illinois' state parks, leaving some staffs with large cleanup efforts and others with spare time.

Even before last weekend's storms, some parks around Central Illinois still were cleaning up from the Nov. 30 ice storm.

"It was pretty devastating," said Dave Herzog, superintendent of Weldon Springs State Park in DeWitt County.

The same ice that clung to trees and took down power lines throughout the area caused trails and parking lots to be littered with limbs and branches. The park closed several times, and Weldon Springs' staff of four still are working to clear some trails.

Herzog likened the event to a tornado that ripped the park's trees apart earlier this decade. After that storm, volunteers showed up in droves the next day to help at the park. Not this time, though.

"The volunteer force was just busy at home with basic survival skills," he said.

Trails, campgrounds and picnic areas in Sangchris Lake State Park also were hit hard by the storm. Trees and limbs litter the area and have closed off some trails.

But in parts of Southern Illinois, much of the rain never froze, leaving Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area in Franklin and Jefferson counties with flooding that's forced the park to close some roads and camping areas.

Fitzgerrell Superintendent Jerry Kawinski said that high lake waters now could hurt the park experience for visitors later. Heavy spring rains could add to the rising flood waters.

"It wouldn't close us down completely," Kawinski said. "But it would close down parts of things."

Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marcelyn Love said the state has shifted workers from site to site to help. She said that, in general, the relatively mild winter so far has kept many of the state's parks in good shape.

The Quad-Cities area reflects that, where the warm temperatures have given park staff there time to work on projects that bitter cold makes difficult. Big Bend State Fish and Wildlife Area Superintendent Steve Woodfall said summer visitors will be better off at the Whiteside County park because of the winter efforts.

"We're repairing everything you guys broke," he said.

Mike Riopell can be reached at mike.riopell@lee.net or 789-0865.