Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground

Great location with plenty of dark skies. The spots are well spaced in the woods, with plenty of room. The location is great for visiting the prairie and easy access to Gainesville.

This campground is really dark, quiet and pretty. The bathhouse was always clean. You can smell the well water in the bathhouse. Brings me back to my childhood memories. We rode our bikes to the observation tower, but we were not lucky enough to see any bison or wild horses. Still nice to see the open prairie. We had a big rainstorm and the back of our site did become a lake, but it was gone overnight. The bugs lit us up all hours, so make sure you different bug sprays.

Quiet, lots of wildlife (wild horses, bison, alligators, deer, birds, turtles); plenty of hiking and biking trails with beautiful sunsets on the lake. Restroom facilities are showing some age but clean.  Walk-in tent sites are pretty close to the Restrooms.

Great state park well off the main road. Quiet and wooded with limestone pads.

There aren’t many bad sites. Great trails and walking. BRING BUG SPRAY. I wish I had time to stay longer to see everything the park had to offer. I will be back!

This is now my top 2 in parks for camping. The tent only spots are nice and secluded. You do have to walk maybe 100-200 ft from your car to the campsite. I was in site #24. Nice and open with a lot of trees for protection. Great fire pit. No power or water at this site… site #25 has those. The whole grounds were well kept and the trails were easy. At the observation tower you can see a lot of the prairie and if you’re lucky you can see wild horses.

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 & 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 & was very quiet when I was there. Lots of wildlife. Close to Gainesville shopping.

Spaced out sites, long road in so no outside noise, bathrooms could use heat in the fall/winter time.

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.

Beautiful park & 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.

When we arrived at tent campsite #32 we were shocked to see how close each site was to one another, with no trees or vegetation to create any sort of privacy. Our fire pit and picnic table were about 5 feet from one of the tents at the site next to our’s. When we noticed liquors bottles everywhere at our neighboring site, we packed up, knowing it would be a long, noisy night. We went to the rangers station to find another open site, but they required a fee. We left without a refund and probably won’t come back for camping, although the trails were beautiful.

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

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

The site was really spacious. This site did not flood like other sites around us. Nice trees around. Beautiful trails.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Definitely one of the more popular destinations in the area because of the buffalo and wild horses, so this park camping and RV parking gets a lot of attention from rangers. The facilities are very clean and staff are courteous, grounds are well-kept and events (like baby alligator educational sessions) are above-par.

Not their fault (the state sets pricing) but primitive campsites are the same price as reserved ones with hookups, $18.

There is plenty of hiking in the park, but it’s also close to other inexpensive trails around Gainesville.

Very close to the University of Florida. Nice campground recently renovated.

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.

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.

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!

Well kept, clean bathhouses, bring bug spray

This campground is awesome. Every site is shaded with a fire pit. Bathrooms are very clean. However it is extremely dark at night since it is back in the wood. Both RV and tents site are great. Great place for folks that enjoy the outdoor.

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.