Gainesville to Hawthorne Rails to Trails

Friday March 22, 2013
Site 7, Paynes Prairie Preserve
Micanopy, Florida

 

Today we drive into Gainesville to pick up the 16 mile paved trail to Hawthorne

 

Boulware Springs

The trail head turns out to be at the city’s original Waterworks.  This is Gainesville’s only artesian spring which was tapped with a pipe in 1898 and provided the city’s only water source for years.   In 1905 Gainesville’s plentiful water source helped entice the University of Florida to locate here.  The spring was abandoned in 1948 with the completion of the water treatment plant.  Now the  spring flows onto Paynes Prairie as it did before the city’s original use.   I wonder - what it was it like for those 50 years to have spring water piped into your home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The trail is 16 miles one way so if you do the entire thing it’s a 32 mile round trip. We’ve gotten a late start today so we’ll probably only go about 10 miles up and then come back.  The most fabulous part of this trail is that it mostly doesn’t run on or even next to any roads.  It’s a biker’s dream.   There are also viewing spots and information boards along the way and we stop at them all of course.

 

Sweetwater Overlook

The Sweetwater Overlook is the first one we come to and it overlooks a lovely wetland.   We’ve heard it’s a great spot for watching the sunset but we’re too early for that.

 

This bike trail is fun to ride.
As we move into a curve the sign reads

Caution sharp curve
Keep right
Stay in lane

and you’d better do that because some riders come flying along going the other way especially on the hills.

 

 

The hills of Florida.

And there are hills in Florida.  Though not many I’ll grant you.  This one was just long enough thanks.

 

 

The La Chua Trail spur

At 1.5 miles is the La Chua Trail  spur which includes a walking trail through the remnants of a ranch that operated on the Prairie from the turn of the 20th century until it was bought by the state in 1970.  A stone barn is all that remains of the ranch.   Hiking the trail is HIGH up on our list for another day, maybe even tomorrow.  It goes out to a platform in the northern section of Paynes Prairie.  Another chance to spot buffalo and wild horses.  But not today, today we look from the spur.   Beautiful view.

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Back on the trail, the bike path curves around  sink holes.  The sign reads

Entering the Hammock
Hills and Curves
Keep Right

 

 

 

 

 

 

A ‘Wildlife Crossing’ sign always makes me think of deer or elk or buffalo or some big animal….moose??

 

We stop here but the resident is either inside or away for the day.  Really nice yard though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prairie Creek Bridge

At 5 miles we reach Prairie Creek Bridge which is one of those kodak moments on both sides of the trail.  To the left on Prairie Creek is the rustic Kate’s Fish Camp and the gorgeous creek itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the right is a long boardwalk back into the cypress swamp and the gorgeous views of the creek.  This is a wonderful tranquil spot except for the highway noise from the secondary road just beyond Kate’s.

 

 

 

 

 

When I get back to Winnona, I intend to investigate this beautiful Prairie Creek more and see if there is a way to kayak it. 

  

 

 

 

Prairie Creek Preserve Trail Heads

But for now we move on down the road where we arrive at the Prairie Creek Preserve Trail heads.   Orange or yellow?  No time for either today unfortunately.  Wish we’d known, perhaps we could have left earlier and had time for some hiking as well as peddling. Although since I went running and they cut back sunrise, we couldn’t have left much earlier.
Sunrise at 7:30 rather than 6:30 sure cuts into my day.
Yes I’m still whining.

 

 

 

 

Lunch time

Our final stop is at another Prairie Creek Preserve spot where we have our picnic lunch under the shade of these grand oak trees.  There is a parking lot here too so you can start the trail from here if you like and go either direction.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Hey look at those  beagles

At this point we cross our first road, county Road 234.  It leads to the town of Micanopy which we visited yesterday.  At 7 miles we pass a simple white Baptist church before entering the Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area where they say during hunting season cyclists may encounter hunters and hounds.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Time to turn back.

At this point we’ve done a tad more than half of the trail and decide to turn back and leave the other half for another day.  Perhaps we’ll come back to the Prairie Preserve parking and bike to the end and back and then hike the preserve trails.  Sounds like a plan.  Or maybe we’ll just do the entire thing, and get out much earlier.  It’s a gorgeous trail.

 

This is my idea of the perfect bike trail.  It’s paved for those of us with hybrid rather than mountain bike tires and is packed with a variety of landscapes, vistas and topography as it skirts the Paynes Prairie Preserve and Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area.

Back the way we came, we enjoy it all over again.

 

THE END