Paynes Prairie State Nature Preserve covers a massive sinkhole basin just south of Gainesville, Florida. While we have crossed the refuge many times on Interstate 75, we have never visited, until yesterday. After taking Exit 374 at Micanopy, we followed signs to the south entrance, paid an entry fee and drove back to the Visitor Center which commands a spectacular view of the basin.
From the Center, a short trail leads out to an overlook tower. Once atop the structure, we observed great and cattle egrets feeding in the basin, joined by a small flock of sandhill cranes and a lone whooping crane that has settled in at the preserve. We saw a couple of the wild horses that roam the prairie but could not locate the resident bison herd. Pressed for time, we did not explore the trail network that leads through woodlands atop the basin and along the edge of its floor.
Shallow lakes across the basin represent sinks where the underlying aquifer surfaces within the scrub prairie. American alligators are abundant in these wetlands and we were told they are especially conspicuous along the rail bed trail on the north edge of the refuge (on the south side of Gainesville). We plan to check for ourselves when we head back north.
