Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

We had a great weekend at Paynes Prairie, even though it rained most of the time and that limited what we could do. The park ranger greeted us and gave us maps of the park and the campground, and specific directions to the campground. The campground is neat, with good-sized sites for every type of RV. Tent area has parking and walk-in to the tent sites. Sites are bordered by palmetto, oak trees, and some pines. Our site was level with a firmly-packed limerock base. We had a fire ring, picnic table, and a lantern post. Bath house was clean and had plenty of room in the individual shower stalls. The observation tower was an unexpected treat, as we saw many bison, several horses, plenty of birds, and one deer hanging out on the prairie. The path from the parking lot to the observation tower was concrete with and ADA-compliant ramp. The vistors center was not staffed on the day we visited, which was our only disappointment. There are many trails through the park. There is a trail from the campground to a playground and the boat ramp. We wanted to check out the fishing pier on the lake but weather changed our plans. The best thing about this state park is the feeling you get when you reconnect with nature.

What most people said we agree with about the camping facilities. We did find the road noise from I - 10 annoying during parts of the day. We live in the country, so we notice things like this. Note, no laundry facilities at this park.

The park is convenient to Gainesville for shopping and attractions. There are enough paved roads in the part for a ride on a bike. The Gainesville - Hawthorne Railtrail is on the north side of the park. We enjoyed a paddle on Cross Creek next to the historic site of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings who wrote The Yearling. You can visit the homestead. Note this is a popular fishing g area and there are airboats, so I wouldn’t paddle here on the weekend. Micanopy is worth a walk about.

Stayed here on an overnight stopover and wish we could have stayed longer. Easy back in spots for the most part, camp sites are level, spacious, and fairly private. Numerous hiking trails wind through the preserve. Bathhouses were very clean and easily accessible. Park personnel were very friendly and helpful.
The only thing to watch for is the price. The rate is $22 per night but that’s before taxes and state fees. Those additions bumped the nightly cost to $31.86.
Still, it’s a nice place to stay and I’d stay there again without hesitation.

Campsites are pretty level, clean and spacious. Foliage between lots. Picnic table and fire pit provided.
Some tv Channels, able to use Verizon and AT&T cell service, internet good.
Visitor center a must do. Lots of trails from 1 mile to 8. Pick your level. Biking also.
Quiet and a pleasure after cramped RV parks!
Electric and water. Dump station.

Only negative (it is Florida) be sure your dogs have tick repellent on. And check yourself and dogs after walks. We were here in February and it was quite warm,
High 80’s.

I was worried because our rig is not only long but tall, but we had no problem getting into our site. The road into the park is a little tight, but just take it slow. Most of the sites are fairly private with lots of trees above and around. Our site was nice and level.

Satellite was a no go for us, but our Verizon and Att Phones and hotspots worked just fine. We didn’t use the bathhouses, so I can’t say what they are like. The park was quiet and had some very nice tent sites that were off of the road.

The park is about 15 minutes from the nearest Publix. The town of Micanopy is cute and worth a visit. The Cuban at Old Florida Cafe was excellent and we enjoyed dinner, drinks and live music at The Depot.

We didn’t see any bison, but we did see some horses and cattle. We are hoping to return and spend more time here.

Paynes Prairie Preserve campground is about 20 minutes away from Gainesville and there isn't much around the park itself. The closest town is Micanopy and it's pretty small. The campground is one of the smaller ones in the Florida State Park system but it can accomodate pretty much all sizes of rigs depending on what is available. Our 40 foot motorhome was able to navigate the roads pretty well but some of the campground roads can be pretty tight for a rig that size. So just go slow and be careful.

The bathrooms and showers are well kept and very nice. The campsites are a hard surface and ours was very level. Most of them seem to be that way. There is a beautiful lake nearby and a visitors center for the Payne's Prairie that can be found by going a ways beyond the campground turnoff on the main park road.

We highly recommend going to the visitors center. There is an observation tower there that affords a wonderful view of the prairie and if you bring binoculars you may see lots of birds, wild horses and even some bison. Yes, I know, I didn't think bison could be found in Florida, but boy was I wrong. There is a bison herd in this area and apparently bison used to be found frequently in Florida. Interesting!

Our AT&T cell reception was very good with our cell booster and we had very fast internet speeds up to about 30 mps on our downloads. Shopping for food and other items is mostly found in Gainesville about 20 minutes away, but anything you need can be found there. Pearl's Country Store is close by though and they have great barbecue sandwiches and desserts.

We enjoyed our stay and would definitely visit again.

We were here for a three day weekend and I have to say that this has been one of our favorite places in this part of the state.

The park rangers were very pleasant and professional. The camp sites were large, and while you can see other sites there was enough foliage between the sites that you don’t feel stacked on top of one another.

The entire park was immaculate. The showers were fantastic and the trails were gorgeous. Lots of wildlife to be seen.

The nearby town of Micanopy was just as cute as it could be (have you seen Doc Hollywood?).

At a cost of only $18 per night this place is hard to beat for a weekend getaway.

Paynes Priaire is very magical, where old oak trees in their majestic arms hanging over the canappy of the park. There is a big lake within walking distance of the campground with a boat ramp and fishing is allowed with a license. There are many trails to explore in your stay. The paths in the park are not very well marked and the rangers need to mark the walking paths better. If they would color code the walking trails and paint the wood stakes showing where to go, would be easier to follow. The State Park is vast area to walk and not all of the walking trails are in the same area of where you camp. There are horses and buffalo in the pastures, which you can see from the observation deck at the visitor center.

This park is not designed for big rigs... Big Rigs beware. When making the reservation you have no idea how big or how small the sites are. We had selected site 43 and there was no way to back in that site with all the trees and limbs across the street, the road in the rv park is just to narrow. We called the gate to speak with the ranger and they gave us either site 4 or 40. Site 4 is not big rig friendly. Now site 40 is as you pull in the parking lot of the bath house and back right in to your new digs. There are only one or two other sites worthy of a big rig site.

All sites are on packed dirt and rocks with a camp fire ring and grill. The bath houses are just okay, nothing special. There is hot water but the pressure is real low. there is no heaters in the bath houses. This is an old park worthy of staying in the winter, not the summer as the bugs would be unmerciful. The park is family friendly.