Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park

We've been looking for a place to stay near Gainesville, which has turned out to be much more difficult than we expected. We were very interested in Payne's Prairie Preserve, but were alerted by reviewers on RV Park Reviews that there might be problems with narrow roads, difficult to access sites, and worst of all, lots of low overhanging branches. We decided to go see for ourselves.

It's a straight shot down I-75, but a 70 mile trip, so it took over an hour. As we approached the park, we realized that it might be difficult for us to avoid the overhanging branches, but we were still hopeful. At the gate, we asked about this, and a friendly volunteer assured us that there was no problem. If we called as we approached the park, rangers would meet us and cut any offending branches or guide us around them. Good news.

However, as we drove along, we could see that it would take a major logging operation to remove the many very heavy overhanging branches, some over 12" in diameter. We drove through the campground and determined that we might actually be able to get into one or two sites, but most would be impossible to access because of the narrow roads and the trees lining the roads and next to the campsite drives. We decided to make the most of our visit and check out the Visitor Center and prairie observation tower.

We walked the short trail to the Visitor Center, which was locked when we arrived, so we went on to climb the observation tower to view the prairie.

We didn't see any bison or wild horses or scrub cattle, but we did see a wide expanse of prairie stretched in front of us. Looking around, we could see that we were in the forest canopy and could see the sunlight reaching the tops of the trees. By the time the light reaches the ground, it is much diffused.

We ate our picnic lunch sitting on a glider at the top of the tower, looking out over the prairie, called the Great Alachua Savannah.

We walked the short Wacahootah Trail through the trees back to the Visitor Center, which was now open. We saw the introductory video about the history of the park, which was Florida's first nature preserve in 1971.
On the way home we stopped at Travelers Campground to check it out, but decided that it wouldn't work for us either, so we'll have to drive to Gainesville from White Springs to see whatever we want to see. Right now that's the Devil's Millhopper.