Interesting that Florida has a prairie, with a herd of Buffalo and wild horses. It is a good walk... read more
Interesting that Florida has a prairie, with a herd of Buffalo and wild horses. It is a good walk... read more
It was a nice to explore and walk the prairie the views a beautiful. Great to get out and walk and... read more
On our recent long weekend trip to Payne's Prairie I was completely surprised with the park. The campground is smaller than some State Parks but it is in amazing condition. Our site was very clean. From what I saw in all of the sites they were all well maintained and kept free of trees and uncontrolled bushes that make parking a camper challenging. The bathroom was also in great shape. They were clean every time we went in. The shower was also great and did not flood like some state parks that are not maintained. There were several trails in the area of the park with the campground. Many of which are dog friendly. My wife and I plus 2 dogs enjoyed all of the trails we went on. Again, they were all very well maintained. We also saw several deer on the trails and on the road to the campground. On the north side where the prairie trail is was beyond incredible. It starts with a boardwalk where we saw possibly 50+ alligators. The area is under extreme drought which probably results with them being extra congregated. Once on the trail itself we saw wild horses and several types of birds. We went twice during our trip and saw wild horses and both trips. One catch - if you have dogs make sure they are on tick prevention. There are ticks (as expected in northern Fl and above) and they were attracted to our dogs. Luckily we do keep our dogs on regular prevention medications but just be aware in case you do not. Of course make sure to check yourself to ticks too.
Went to Gainesville, FL late January and visited Payne Prairie Park. The scenery here is unbelievable! You are literally yards away from alligators, beautiful birds, bison, wild horses and so much more wildlife in their natural habitat. This is a must visit for all people! I have never been so in awe of a place in my life..loved it!
If you want to see lots of alligators close up, this is the place. We parked at the north gate, off SE 15th st. in Gainesville. Parking was $4. The trail is about a mile and a half one way. Part of the trail is a boardwalk. We could see some bison and horses off in the distance, a couple miles. There are signs everywhere warning you about the alligators, but the ones we saw were in the water and not very active. There were none on the trail.
My daughter and I stopped here on the way home from Gainesville. I must have passed through Payne's Prairie at least 2 dozen times driving I75 north to GA or NC, but I have never stopped at the park itself. Well, we did this day. And it was totally worth it. This is a huge park and we only saw a small portion near the visitor's center. But, the part we saw was beautiful. The visitor's center is large and very nice. There are a lot of informative plaques and exhibitions educating visitors on the park. From the back of the visitor center, there is a huge floor to ceiling window that looks out on the prairie. You can go out this back door to take the trail to the observation tower.
The tower itself was nice and well built. It is a pretty easy climb, but if you are afraid of heights you might want to skip it and enjoy the view from the bottom level. We didn't see any bison or horses on the prairie the morning we were there, but it was a a beautiful view nonetheless. From the top of the tower, you can see Gainesville and some UF buildings. It's pretty cool. Go Gators!
We took another small trail that pops out at the main parking lot for the visitor's center. We drove around and went to another part of the park where we took a small trail with a boardwalk that has Lake Wauburg on one side and Sawgrass Pond on the other. There are lots of alligators so of course there is no swimming, but it is a beautiful view.
This is a great state park and one that I would highly recommend. We didn't have much time that morning, but if we did I would have stayed at least 3 to 4 hours to see more of the park.
This area is definitely a must for anyone who loves nature. We saw wild horses, bison, countless alligator and birds of many species. You can spend hours there just watching the wildlife interactions and taking photos. Definitely worth the trip.
Very clean campground located adjacent to the only savannah prairie habitat in Florida. Take a hike on the prairie from the west gate and see abundant wildlife including American Bison, Wild Spanish Horses, alligators, numerous birds, and , at times, otters and bobcats. Be careful, though, this is not a zoo. It is a wild area and there are no barriers between you and the animals. Great hiking.