If you’re looking for some peace and quiet, or simply a beautiful natural place to hike, then you have to visit Alfred A. Ring Park of Gainesville. This 21-acre park was Gainesville‘s very first nature preserve and the land was given to the city in memory of Alfred Ring. In addition to the excellent hiking trail that meanders along a creek in a densely forested ravine, there is also a children’s playground, clean restroom facilities, and a mid-size pavilion with several picnic tables. Ring park features a series of boardwalks that elevate you over the ravine and makes the entire hiking trail accessible for most people. There is also a beautiful wildflower garden dedicated to Emily Ring, Alfred’s wife, with butterfly plants, a fish pond, and several places to sit and reflect quietly in the woods.
Gainesville has many natural areas to explore when compared to other cities. It’s clear that when you visit this special city that there was extra planning put into protecting the green spaces. The primary watershed flowing from North to South through the city is called Hogtown Creek. The creek flows through Ring park above and below ground in some places and is mostly untouched - allowing animals to flourish right in the heart of the city. Hogtown creek ends in Paynes Prairie, a huge park that provides habitat and filters water to the aquifer, just as the Everglades does.
Parking for Ring Park is just off of the Elks Lodge facility located on 16th Street, on the north side of the preserve. There is no parking at the south trailhead, but there is pedestrian access. The first thing you see when you enter Ring park from the North entrance is a bridge over the crystal-clear waters of Glen Springs creek. Looking down from the bridge, there are tons of huge elephant ear plants and other beautiful plants living in a little microclimate that almost looks tropical. The trails throughout the entire park are very well-maintained. Many times we have hiked the park a day or two after a bad storm (to see the elevated water levels) and the park caretakers have already been out to chainsaw fallen trees and repair any damage to the trails.
The entire hiking trail is an out-and-back trail at a little over two miles in length and it does include some steep areas and elevation changes. The view of Hogtown Creek flowing through the park is really unmatched: it’s so peaceful just to be there, breathe the fresh air, and clear your mind with the white noise of the flowing creek. The only downside of the park is the inevitable trash that flows into the river from the surrounding city – cups, bottles, plastics: even this beautiful environment is littered with garbage just like the rest of our planet. One of the neat aspects of this waterway is the clear in-flow of Glen Springs merging with the dark-tannic Hogtown water, which you can view the contrast at an elevated platform located towards the North start of the trail.
We frequently see deer in the park which roam freely throughout the Hogtown Creek Greenway (and through the entire city from North to South). Gainesville is also known for its really cool mushrooms – and if you go hiking at Alfred Ring park while it’s a little damp in the forest, you will see more species of mushrooms than you ever knew existed in so many colors and shapes. There are also lots of little creatures to spy like amphibians and fish. Many times we will also hear owls hooting in the distance through the dense forest (during the day) and see other large birds nesting high in the tree canopy.
Thoughts of the city are quickly drowned out once you’re by the peaceful Hogtown Creek waters. This gem of a park along Hogtown Creek should definitely be a stop on your hiking list if you’re in the North Florida area. You won’t be disappointed by this hike.
