These 8 affordable nature parks in Gainesville share a connection with water

If you’re in Gainesville, you’re likely to be over water right now.

Hogtown Creek starts, flows and disappears underground within the city's urban environment. Most people don’t notice the flow of water surrounding them and making its way towards the Floridan aquifer, the source of Gainesville’s drinking water, until they turn on their tap. But you don’t have to stay at home to see the water that makes it into your pipes.

Many of Gainesville’s nature parks are centered around the creek, the streams that branch from it, and the wetlands that surround it. Here are eight affordable, immersive parks that could be a quick drive away from your home.

1. Alfred A. Ring Park

1801 NW 23rd Blvd., Gainesville

Right next to Elks Lodge #990 in Gainesville is a small parking lot with an almost-hidden pathway into forested growth. This park has over a mile of trails around 21 acres of slope and upland mixed forests. A wooden overlook provides scenic views of the junction of Glen Springs Run and Hogtown Creek, as the clear water from Glen Springs contrasts with the tannic, almost orange, water from Hogtown Creek.

Lizards, birds, grey squirrels and other common wildlife can be seen along the trails. By following the main trail visitors can access restrooms, a small playground and picnic tables under a pavilion.

The park’s namesake, Alfred A. Ring, came to the United States from Germany at the age of 19. After receiving a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from New York University, he journeyed south to the University of Florida in 1947 for a teaching position.

Ring served as chairman of the Department of Real Estate and Land Studies and worked as a land evaluation consultant. His interest in real estate resulted in him donating 12 of the 20 acres that make up Ring park in 1985 to the City of Gainesville.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Parks/Alfred-A.-Ring-Park; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily (March 15-Sept. 30) | 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (Oct.1-March 14); free

2. Boulware Springs Park

3300 SE 15th St., Gainesville

This park is a starting point for the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, a 17-mile trail that was once a railroad and connects to Paynes Prairie. Near the parking lot is an abandoned 19th century waterworks building, which was used long ago as Gainesville’s water source. There is another entrance for horseback riders to unload horses and ride along the state trail. Hikers, bicyclists and horseback riders use the trail often.

The surrounding 80 acres of sandhill habitat, which once had extensive grasses, flowers and longleaf pine trees, is undergoing restoration by the city in conjunction with 20 acres of Alachua County’s Sweetwater Preserve and adjacent private lands.

Before human settlement, fires ignited by lightning were fairly common in the ecosystem and served as natural maintenance for the area. Now, prescribed burns and land management activities aim to restore the historic ecosystem, which has transitioned into shady laurel oak forests, and maintain the native plant and wildlife species.

The spring, purchased by the city for $2,500 in 1892 and tapped with a pipe in 1898, was Gainesville’s only water source for many years and supplied up to 300,000 gallons of water daily. The city’s large water supply was used to convince the University of Florida to locate to Gainesville in 1905.

It was abandoned in 1948 after completion of a water treatment plant. Approximately 194,000 gallons of water is produced daily from Boulware Springs and flows into Paynes Prairie. According to Florida State Parks, the site had more than just the historic waterworks building still seen today – it boasted attractions in the 1890s such as a zoo, dance pavilion and a roller coaster.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Parks/Boulware-Springs-Nature-Park; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily (March 15 -Sept. 30) | 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (Oct. 1-March 14); free

3. Cofrin Nature Park

4810 NW Eighth Ave., Gainesville

A half-mile long hiking trail winds through upland mixed and upland pine forests along Beville Heights Creek at this park, and seepage wetlands can be seen harboring the growth of ferns and wildflowers on the slopes above the creek.

Frogs, lizards, birds, box turtles and squirrels are common in this area, and informative signs about the ecosystem are placed along the trail. The park also has a tennis court, restrooms, playground and covered picnic area.

After a short walk on the nature trail, a reflection area with commemorative bricks, benches, and a six-pillar remembrance sculpture can be seen.

The Friends of the Crisis Center created the Judy Broward Survivors of Suicide Loss Memory Garden at Cofrin Park in 2013, named after a local Gainesville mother and suicide prevention advocate who lost her son to suicide in 2003.

The garden serves as a place of comfort, meditation and healing for those who have lost a loved one to suicide, or experienced loss in general. An engraved brick or a bench with a placard can be bought and placed in the garden.

Named after Mrs. Gladys Cofrin and the Cofrin family, the 30-acre park was once a working horse farm and family homestead. The former Cofrin house, which is advertised on the park’s information sign to be repurposed as an environmental education center, was actually demolished around eightyears ago.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Parks/Cofrin-Nature-Park; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily (March 15-Sept.30) | 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (Oct. 1-March 14); free

4. Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Park

1500 NW 45th Ave., Gainesville

Pinelands and upland mixed forests combined with fern-laden wetlands make up this 82-acre park, which has a 0.5-mile nature trail loop.

Water seeps from the wetland’s ground, forming the beginnings of Hogtown Creek. There is a large playground, fitness loop, picnic pavilion, nature center, kid-friendly musical instruments and restrooms here.

The nature center provides interactive information on the history of the area, the colonization of Alachua, Gainesville’s creeks and the species that live in the park.

Events such as “Perspectives in the Park,” typically on the first Sunday of the month, “Story Time at the Park” and “Citizen Science Sunday for Kids,” typically on the third Sunday of the month, are held at the Nature Center.

The area was once called Paradise, Florida, and the playground pays tribute to that name with a large “Welcome to Paradise” sign hanging above its entrance.

Francis Hartman purchased the 111 acres and moved to the area in 1888, building the original Hartman house. He started Hartman’s Dairy, and the family owned and used the land for five generations.

Hartman’s Dairy was run by his son, Merton Sr., into the early 1900s and ceased operations in 1961 after Francis Hartman’s death.

The family lived in the Hartman house until 2006, when they sold the property to Home Depot Corp., which built a store on five acres of the property that was once a golf driving range in the 1950s.

The City of Gainesville soon acquired 70 acres of the land from Home Depot in 2007, receiving donations from Home Depot of $1.2 million for acquisition and $250,000 for park development.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Parks/Hogtown-Creek-Headwaters-Nature-Park-Nature-Center; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 15-Sept. 30 | 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct 1.-March 14; Nature Center Hours: Sunday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Year-round) Tues-Thurs: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (June-Sept) | Tues-Thurs: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Oct – May); free

5. Loblolly Woods Nature Park

3315 NW Fifth Ave., Gainesville

This park gets its name from its loblolly pines, claimed to be some of the largest in the region. Side trails and a quarter-mile boardwalk among the trees provide views of the 159-acre park.

Forested bottomland, wildflowers, sinkholes and bluffs above the creeks can all be seen in the park. The confluence of Possum Creek and Hogtown Creek is also present here.

It makes up a portion of Gainesville’s Hogtown Creek Greenway, which Friends of Nature Parks says is considered one of the best birding spots in the country.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Parks/Loblolly-Woods-Nature-Park; open dawn to dusk daily; free

Learn more about Sweetwater: Paynes Prairie project quite a sight to behold

6. Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

100 Savannah Blvd., Micanopy

On the outskirts of Gainesville is a park known for its wild-roaming bison and horses. However, alligators, deer, and nearly 300 species of birds are also present at Paynes Prairie. There are over 20 distinct biological communities in the park which provide multiple habitats for a plethora of wildlife and livestock.

There are eight trails that take visitors through over 30 miles of the prairie. The Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail, which starts at Boulware Springs, makes up one of the eight trails around the prairie.

An observation tower near the visitor center climbs 50 feet high and provides a panoramic view of the prairie and preserve. Amenities at the park include campsites for tent and RV camping, horseback riding, fishing, picnic tables, water activities, campfire circles, shower stations, a playground and a visitor center.

When artist and naturalist William Bartram visited the prairie in 1774, he referred to it as the Great Alachua Savannah in his writings. Once occupied by the Seminole Indians, the prairie is named after Chief King Payne, who also relocated the town of Cuscowilla – soon to become Paynes Town – to a site east of Lake Wauburg.

The Seminoles were driven out of the area after being defeated in the Second Seminole War and the savannah is now a registered National Landmark, becoming Florida’s first state preserve in 1971.

Much of the prairie is currently underwater, but that is not uncommon for the area due to its sediments and sinkholes. Between 1871 and 1891 water on Paynes Prairie was deep enough for paddleboat ferries to travel it.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/paynes-prairie-preserve-state-park; 8 a.m. to sundown daily; Visitor Center Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; Cost: $6 per vehicle

7. Springtree Park

2700 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville

Behind Creekside Community Church in the Springtree neighborhood, this park has a nature trail through pine flatwoods and slopes covered in ferns. It is near Three Lakes Creek, which is a tributary of – and flows into – Possum Creek, eventually going into the Floridan aquifer.

The park offers a playground, picnic area and fitness stations. A boardwalk lookout area provides immersed nature viewing.

The park was updated in 2020 with a new playground, fitness stations, park signage, a pavilion, and a deck that overlooks Three Lakes Creek. There were also improvements made to the park’s access and trails.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Parks/Springtree-Park; dawn to dusk daily; free

8. Sweetwater Wetlands Park

325 SW Williston Road, Gainesville

This man-made system was designed to improve the water quality of wetlands in Paynes Prairie, the Alachua Sink and the Floridan aquifer, providing over 125 acres of wetlands and ponds for wildlife to thrive.

More than 3.5 miles of gravel trails and boardwalks take visitors around and above the wetlands. Alligators, Florida Cracker horses, butterflies and multiple species of birds live throughout the park. There are restrooms and multiple pavilions with seating areas in the park. Educational signs and tours allow visitors to learn about the habitat.

The Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project began in 2009 to reduce pollution to the Alachua Sink by creating a wetland habitat and restoring the prairie’s natural sheetflow. The wetlands were completed by the city in 2015, restoring the natural flow of water to over 1,300 acres of once-drained wetlands in Paynes Prairie.

The park also increases the amount of conservation lands within Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.

https://www.sweetwaterwetlands.org/; 7 a.m. to sunset; $5 per car or $2 per person (bicyclists, pedestrians, buses)

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville's affordable nature parks are connected through water