Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground

Beautiful campgrounds. More hiking and wildlife and history and wildlife. From bison to wild horses and dont forget the alligators! Vast landscapes wetlands biking hiking and right outside Gainesville for fun and food. Rich in culture and history. Beautifully maintained. Also a great stop off when traveling as its located in between north south east and west. A must for all ages.

What North florida is.

Beautiful wetlands

I would say that most people who go camping like the outdoors and love the wildlife. Well I would say my favorite part was the wild horses that roamed the wetlands. I happened to go when there was a new born calf and oh my goodness was he cute! You can literally walk along the wetland trail and stand right next to a horse! They don"t approach you (and I wouldn't recommend doing so either) but it definitely got my blood pumping being next to such a majestic creature. Wild bison also roam the prairie, but I did not see any while I was there. The visitor center would have an update of what animals were viewed most recently and they had a variety of activities to do inside (for kids to!). I especially like the tower that looked over the wetlands.

The campsites were a good size however unlike a lot of places, you could not park your car directly in your site. There were 4-5 sites in a group and parking was in a "lot" of 7-8 spaces in front of the sites. This was a little inconvenient for unpacking and repacking purposes. Also, if you have a car tent (or sleep in your car), you would not have been able to use it because of this.

There were also good trails that went through the campground for hiking and biking (and like I mentioned above, a beautiful trail along the prairie. Dogs were not allowed on this trail). A nearby lake allowed for fishing and kayaking, canoeing and boating.

Wild Horses!

This park has 8 trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. We were able to see wild horses, bisons, snakes and gators. Great for fishing and kayaking.

A lot of wildlife!

People ask me my favorite place camping and this place is my answer. We got to see so many different animals. The park is a bit different than others, you drive outside the park to different locations within the park. 

Our first night camping was difficult to sleep because of our college camping neighbors. They had a great time, but it was an isolated incident. Besides that, we got to see so many animals. The park is still damaged from hurricane Irma. 

I highly recommend this state park! 

My favorite place! 

Many opportunities to spot wildlife close by.  The camp is frequented by college students.  Bathrooms are clean.  Plenty of hiking to be found.  Buffalo, deer, eagles, alligators, owls....Visit Sweetwater.

Gorgeous Wildlife 

Nice campground.  Clean and well maintained.  Very shady site, but tons of mosquitoes.   We went in late October.  Nice preserve to walk or bike to.   Observation tower.  Saw wild horses in the prairie.  Visitor’s Center very helpful with information.  

Peaceful 

Except for the noise of the highway, you would never guess you were 10 minutes from a major metropolitan city. The campground is very private with lots of trees and palms separating sites, especially in the tent loops. The tent sites are walk in, with some closer than others. I took site #23 for the night, which was set back just enough to the private, but not so far as to really haul my gear. Each tent site has a numbered parking space as well. There seemed to be about 10-12 tent only sites and the remainder of the 50 sites had hook-ups for RVs. The bathhouse was clean and modern, and well taken care of. 

A two mile hike will take you the visitors center, from which you can climb the observation tower to look over the prairie and have access to several trails. It was really wet when I was there which meant that several trails were partially closed. But I still managed to hike several miles over several trails. I never did see the Cracker Wild Spanish Horses or the bison, but did see lots of signs in the form of poop. I also didn’t see any gators, but did get to see lots of birds of various size and variety.

Private with great wildlife viewing close to the city

We really enjoyed this park.  We camped at a tent only site which was private as there weren’t many tent campers while we were there during the week.  Stayed at site 31 which is probably the furthest walk from parking but the most private.  We saw wild bison, wild turkeys, deer, snakes, and several different species of birds.  Disappointed we didn’t see any wild horses but will most definitely be back.  Beautiful part of Florida.

Nice camping and great park with lots of wildlife!

Lots of trails to hike and all kinds of wildlife to see. Mosquitoes can be pretty bad around dusk in some areas. 

Nice

We stayed in site #38 it's a shaded site with water &amp; electric. There is a picnic table &amp; a fir pit the fire pit was a little to close to the camper to have a fire. It is a very quiet and woodsy campground. There isn't much real close by so grocery before you get there.  There are some hikes in the park that are good you can see wild horses near the lookout tower sometimes and along the paths.  There is a dump station onsite.

  

There are several places to go observe the wetlands, shorebirds and gators can be seen. If you drive to North Paynes Prairie you will see lots of Gators, Bison and wild horses and certain times of the year White Pelicans. The trail along the lake &amp; creeks are loaded with gator once you head to the back lookout tower you will see Bison &amp; Wild Horses. We counted 150 gators in a mile &amp; a half. If you google horse stomping gator in Paynes Prairie you will see a great video. 

  

On the way to the North Prairie you pass Sweetwater preserve it's loaded with all kinds of birds from Woodstorks, Herons, Egrets, Hawks, Ibis and Sora's. You can spend hours there watching the birds. There are some gators but nothing like North Prairie.

  

Watched the sunset for the picnic area on the lake.

Relaxing campground

From the grasslands to the marshes, Paynes is truly one of a kind. It’s challenging to get a reservation for the campgrounds but worth it if you can. Go hiking, biking, kayaking, or fly a kite. Backcountry camping is first come first serve— get there early to get a permit. 

One of the most gorgeous places

Hot with skeeters the majority of the year, cold overnight in the winter. All kinds of little critters in the woods and access to hikes and many gators.

Swampland

We spent one night at Payne’s Prairie in mid February, site 46. The campground is ok - nice wooded sites, but not as much privacy between sites as we have been spoiled by in other FL state parks. The biggest disappointment for this state park is that all of the things they advertise (and I was looking forward to) - bison, horses, wildlife - are all on trails where pets are not allowed. We did one of the only trails you can take your dog on (the Lake Trail) and drove over to the ecopassage observation boardwalk site. It’s a pretty area, but we were very disappointed we couldn’t do most of the hiking trails with a dog. We won’t return unless we come someday without our dog. 

Dogs not allowed on most trails 

Great place to view buffalo, wild horses, and all the birds of the swamp. Super quiet camping area. Clean restrooms and large sites.

Paynes Prairie

Large sites. Vegetation and buffer for privacy.  Lots to do in the park and surrounding area to watch wildlife.  Bathrooms clean.


Animal Lovers Delight

Beautiful site and campground.  Large  site and heavily treed.  Water and 50 amp.   Road bikes to the tower to see the animals on the prairie.  So gorgeous 

Beautiful 

Beautiful park &amp; campground. Sites were all lovely and well spaced out.  Facilities were clean.  Good walking trails right from campground.  For distance bike riders, Gainesville bike club has good group rides (just sign up for a membership to join rides).   Town of Micanopy is nearby and worth the visit.  Gainesville also has a good lap pool and isn’t far.  We’ve stayed here twice for a week each time and will definitely return.  

Lovely state park & campground

Lovely Park with lots of wildlife!! La Chua trail was beautiful and we saw lots of gators. We did the Ranger led hike which was really nice, my 5 year old struggled to keep up with the Ranger and there are decent elevation changes. 

Gorgeous! 

I love these big, well shaded spots. 30 or 50 amp depending on the site. No sewer but there is a dump station. Water pressure at the site was a little low. The bathrooms &amp; showers were clean with super hot water. Tons of trails to hike and see the wild horses and bison. There’s a boat launch to the lake with tons of fish. Very nice rangers. Super dark at night &amp; was very quiet when I was there. Lots of wildlife. Close to Gainesville shopping. 