Micanopy, Florida is a historic and cool town located south of Gainesville, Florida it is historic…read moreand the town itself just exudes that quaint, small town feel. I enjoy coming to this area and always just enjoy chilling in Micanopy. They have a cool downtown area with a lot of antique shops thar I would definitely recommend. I also think the historic cemetery is cool. If you are traveling up Interstate 75. I would definitely recommend taking a detour and checking out this quaint, small town that almost feels like it is from another tome. I guess it is from another tome as it was incorporated back in the 1800's and definitely feels like it is not moving as fast as the world around it. I enjoy Micanopy, Florida.

Great park with playground and baseball field. I've been to this park twice for Town of Micanopy's…read morefestivals; Chili Cook-off, 4th of July Fireworks, parking for the Annual Fall Festival. Bathrooms are only open during events. Beautiful trees give shade.

Bolen Bluff is such a peaceful spot when you want to get outside and reset. The trail is…read morewell‑marked, easy to follow, and gives you that classic Florida nature vibe without feeling too crowded. I loved the mix of shaded areas and open views, and it's a great place to see wildlife if you go at the right time of day. Major perks is no entrance fee and easy access to parking. My only note is that some parts of the trail can get a little uneven or muddy depending on the weather, so just be prepared with good shoes. Other than that, it's a beautiful, quiet escape and perfect for a walk or a slow, grounding morning.

Great place to do a nature walk, we walked about 3-5 miles total…read more They have a couple trails and a long straight trail to a tower to look out. The straight part along is .9 mile so it's almost 2 miles to go to tower and back to the trails. We saw horses inside the trails and got within 10 feet of them for pics. Very docile and not afraid of humans so if you go slow and don't make noise they won't get startled and you can take pics. and while we were at the tower as we looked out we saw the bison far away yes but at least we saw them. We went to bolen bluff first then to the visitor center. You can pay at bolen bluff with a QR code but we also needed the restroom so at the visitor center we paid for 2 people $6 and it covers all the trails for that day... Visitor center also has a taller tower outside and inside they have a viewing area with monoculars free to use and you can see pretty far out. They also have a 15 min movie that explains all the trails and wildlife.

What a beautiful park! So many trails to take advantage and never enough time!…read more Great and helpful staff (who will allow you to loan binoculars if you forgot yours and give you ideas on which trails are best for you based on what you are looking to experience) If you are in the area and are a nature nut (like me), come and take a look around. We saw deer, alligators and plenty of birds in our short excursion!

We took advantage of our Florida State Park Pass (saved us the $6 entrance fee) and took a drive to…read morethe park. This is a beautiful park to drive or hike. The drive in and to the visitor center is so pretty! The trees make a nice, shady canopy. You can see various animals from the observation tower, open range or hiking. It was late afternoon and hot when we were there so we didn't see much (one deer!) and I'm sure the animals were in the shade somewhere.

Lake Wauburg is a cool lake that sits just south of Paynes Prairie and is located in Alachua…read moreCounty, Florida. It is a pleasant enough lake and while not big, it is a nice place to chill for a bit.

Lake was cool , there is a guy who can juggle so make sure to ask about that. Must see.read more

As an English teacher, a lover of nature, and someone who loves to travel, I can say that our long…read moreanticipated journey to visit Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park did not disappoint. I first stumbled upon "The Yearling" earlier this year after having a conversation with a wonderful woman on the Cumberland Island boat ferry tour over the summer. She mentioned how much she enjoyed her visit to cross Creek. As a California resident, I borrowed the book from a family member who had it, and thus my love for Marjorie, her life, and work was born! We first arrived at her house, and walked around the citrus orange groves. We played with the pet chickens, and made numerous observations of the property. Shortly after, the tour began. The house tour was led by Emma, a young, extremely warm, and knowledgeable tour guide. Emma made everybody feel extra comfortable, inviting questions and comments openly. The tour takes you through her living quarters, her bathroom, master bedroom, and guest rooms. The artifacts, decor, and design have been preserved to fit the exact historical era of Marjorie's life, and the artifacts are original belongings. The tour offers visitors a chance to learn colorful stories about Marjorie's life, a close look at her literary accomplishments, and a bonus is to get to see her kitchen to truly appreciate her love of cooking. After the tour, it's highly recommended that you make a stop at the yearling restaurant, just around the bend in the country road. It is there were you can enjoy delicious southern cuisine inspired by her, and buy from the incredible selection of books and gifts they offered in their gift shop. The tour guide also had mentioned that the park offers great cooking demonstrations from her cookbook "Cross Creek Cookery" in the spring months. I certainly look forward to visiting again to participate!

I was prompted to read "Cross Creek" because I am closely associated with the Mickens family who…read moreare referenced throughout the book. So we decided we'd go visit. I felt taken back in time The tour and information shared was well presented and only lead to more curiosity about this beautiful place that Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings immortalized in her novels. Read her books, visit the park, history is our teacher. Florida is such a beautiful place, if only we could stop paving this paradise... maybe we'd all see places like Cross Creek. Thank you to the staff and for Marjorie's gifts to the State and humanity.

The Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve is a public conservation land owned jointly by Alachua County and…read morethe St. Johns Water Managment District. The land here mainly is pine scrub and palmetto because these lands were, before being purchased for conservation, owned by Georgia-Pacific which used them to grow pine for producing paper products. GP still owns a lot of land in the area, and you'll notice at the intersection of CR 2082 and CR 325 what appears to be an old GP station of some sort, with a couple dwellings, a fuel pump, and a radio tower. Probably an outpost for servicing their foresting machines and maybe even where a foreman or someone lived (the house now looks abandoned). Thus, most of the land in this area--the region south of Hawthorne and north of Cross Creek, near the old community of Phifer--is timberland. The Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve is a good way of seeing ecosystems unique to northern Florida and southern Georgia. There is a small parking area here and various hiking trails open to hikers, mountain bikers, and folks on horseback. There is a camping area in the north-western portion of the Reserve, although it only has a fire circle, nothing more advanced. To camp here, I believe you're supposed to contact the Water Management District first. Instructions should be availible on their website. I did not see any animals when I visited, but the Water Management District's webpage says that "the site supports gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer, turkey, bobcat and a diverse bird population." So there you go, there could be critters to see! If you do go, especially if you camp here, be very careful with fire: anywhere you visit in woodlands you need to be mindful of fire, but given the nature of this environment (pine and palmetto), if a fire broke out in a dry spell the whole blasted place would pretty much go up like a rocket.

You have to bring water!! It is a nice little trek over to…read morethe grassy part of this natural vista, but the summer Florida sun does not abate itself. There is even a stand with pamphlets and two very nice people manning it, to answer your questions. I imagine there are more alligators to see early in the morning, but I went around 10:30a. A nice long boardwalk with one place to sit and get shade from the great ball of fire in the sky. Beautiful trees, remnants of alligator eggs, and water fowl feeding and foraging. I can imagine that the Alachua sink would be more active, after a big rain. I will def go there a day after a big storm, to see the action of the earth!

This place is so wild! I have never seen so many alligators in the wild. You must visit! This was…read moretoday 3/18/26.