Gainesville-Hawthorne Rail-Trail

The Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail includes Boulware Springs (an important archeological and historical site that has been inhabited for thousands of years, and in 1854, at a community meeting at the Springs, the name of the city was chosen). From 1894 to 1923, the Springs were the water supply for the city. The trail was paved in the early 1990s. Originally, the trail is a rough, unpaved surface prior to paving that discouraged a large number of trail users, since it made a bicycle ride quite arduous. Since the paving, the popularity of the trail has, as expected, grown immensely.

Alachua Sink was the site of a Spanish Ranch in the 1500s. Called "LaChua", which is where the county name comes from. All of the water flowing onto the Prairie from Bivens Arm, Sweetwater Branch, Prairie Creek, and other tributaries comes to Alachua Sink and flows into the ground at this huge sinkhole. In 1871, the sinkhole clogged, which created the Alachua Lake.

The lake lasted for 20 years until it suddenly drained.

There are several additional unnamed sinkholes along the trail. At mile 2.2, you can see Melton Pond, where a large number of waterfowl find habitat. Persimmon Point at mile 2.6 is a hill 50 feet above the Prairie basin. It provides the best view of the Preserve. You can often see bald eagles, hawks, and sandhill cranes from this vantage point.

At mile 3.2, you can see large dead oak trees—remnants of the historical misuse of herbicides by the railroad company to control vegetation along the rail corridor.

At mile 5.4, you can see several osprey nests in the dead live oak trees.

At mile 5.6, Prairie Creek crosses the trail.

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