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Paynes Prairie

PAYNES PRAIRIE PRESERVE STATE PARK, once the home of Paynes Town, a Seminole town from 1790-1830 and named for its leader, King Payne, is not far from Micanopy. Located on State Road 441 south of Gainesville, Paynes Prairie offers some beautiful scenery to photograph or just drink in. You can camp in the campground or just visit for a day. We started at the visitor center to get a map and brochure and to watch a short video. If we’d had on our hiking boots, we could have done some major hiking on the many trails. There are trails to accommodate bicycles as well as horses. From the visitor center we walked to the observation tower where we took photos and listened to the birds chirping and the breeze gently rattling the tree tops. This is a great place to spend the day or several days in the midst of Florida’s wild. Gainesville is a few miles north if you have a hankering for some good eating, shopping, or seeing a movie.

Sign at Entrance
Road to Visitor's Center
Path to Visitor's Center
Visitor's Center
Prairie as viewed from Visitor's Center
Another view of the Prairie from Visitor's Center
Path to Observation Tower
A Path in the forest
Scenery along Path
Observation Tower
Paynes Prairie (also called Alachua Prairie)
View of Paynes Prairie from Tower
Another view of the Prairie looking toward US 441
The treeline that encircles the Prairie can also be seen
Parts of Gainesville and UF can be seen from the top of Tower
Another view of the Prairie with Gainesville in the background
Palmetto Bush
Panoramic view of Paynes Prairie from the top of the park's three leveled Observation Tower

Links

www.floridastateparks.org/paynesprairie/