Camping at Paynes Praire State Park

What is more fun than camping, and especially for a couple sunny and cool autumn days at beautiful Paynes Praire State Park near Gainesville, Florida, one of 161 state parks in Florida, all well maintained by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

We set up our camp among the many upland oaks, palms, and palmettos in the woods. We were very private with all the green surrounding us and separating us for the most part from otther campers. Just how I like it. We immediately created a good fire after buying wood at the gate. Wood was going fast. We managed to have enough for the two days we were camping there.

We drove to the visitor center on the other end of the park, and looked out at the praire, as far as the eyes can see almost. Yes, a real Florida praire, but probably not the kind of praire that you would see in the west.

The information we read at the visitor center stated that there are 31 bison on the park’ praire. There are also wild horses, wild cows and wild boar. The horses and cows are descendants of the animals brought over by the Spaniards during the era of New World exploration.

I did not spot bison or cows at the lookout tower,which my son and I had fun climbing, but as we hiked out into the praire, we saw three black horses. They were so majestic looking, so pure. I wanted to see how close I could get to these shiny, black hoofed animals, so I calmly walked to within about 100 feet of two of the horses which stood close together side by side wagging there thick hairy tails. The third horse was further in the distance but as I started approaching the couple, the distant horse ran up to them and stopped. It was as if that horse was the protecting parent. The horses did not appear to be afraid of me or mind my presence. However, they stared at me in what appeared to be fascination. I tried walking closer to them. My son stayed way back in the distance, somewhat scared to approach the wildlife. As I started getting closer, the third horse who was the more distant horse earlier, started walking toward me. I stopped and hesitated to go closer. The horse stopped, and I decided to turn around and head back toward where I came from.

That day I saw the most beautiful horses.

The camping loop offers some more secluded, private campsites for tents only. Overall, there was a balance of tents and RVs in the camp ground loop.

This state park is unique for its praire basin ecosystem,with its abundant diversity of grasses and other plant types. The basis is partly wet through out the year, and is a winter harboring ground for many northern birds. The camp ground is in the upland woods beside a big lake.

This is the first time I ever visited Paynes Praire, and I am happy I did.

Florida offers so much biodiversity and many different ecosystems. With so much human expansion and development in Florida, there is also much nature for everyone to experience.