The longest paved trail here in Gainesville, the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail alone is 16 miles long; the trail also connects with the Depot Avenue Trail, the Waldo Road Greenway and the Gainesville-Downtown Connector to make 22 miles of continuous car-free trails.
Starting from Gainesville’s Boulware Springs Trail-head the bike route winds through a mesic hammock forest that borders Paynes Prairie. The trail has a fair bit of twists and turns during the Gainesville sector along with a fair bit of elevation changes. Most of climbing and descending is very short and is due to numerous sinkholes in the trails corridor. During the being sections of the trail there are also a few overlooks of Payne’s Prairie and the La Chua Trail-head. The overlooks are worth a stop by; you might even get to see Gainesville’s very own heard of wild Buffalo and horses! After the sinks there is one ‘major’ hill that might catch a few people off guard…it lasts for a several hundred meters and climbs close to 100ft. The rest of the route is mostly flat with a few slight undulations in grade. There are several high-speed road crossings along with several bridge crossings(BE CAREFUL AND STOP AT THE CROSSINGS). The trail provides benches along the length of the route and water is available at both the Gainesville and Hawthorne trail-heads. If you ride the full length of the trail you are likely to see a variety of wild creatures including: deers, rabbits, snakes, buffalo, horses, wild turkey, and all sorts of other little critters. All and all this is a very peaceful place to bike in Gainesville.

Hawthorne Map
Directions
The Gainesville-Hawthorne bike route can be accessed from various points of entry.
-From Gainesville I recommend starting the trail near the University of Florida Campus. On the weekends a great place to park is Norman Hall… there is a parking garage and several ground level spots generally open and free. From Norman Hall I recommend following SW 8th Ave east until it Ts with SW 9th St in which you will bare right until it connects to Depot Ave.
The bike route parallels Depot Ave and can be accessed immediately at the intersection of SW 9th St and Depot. Follow the rail trail, it will intersect SW 6th St and SW Main in less than a few miles. The next major intersection will be SE 4th St, there is a bike memorial right before the intersection, do not miss it! You do NOT want to cross SE 4th(it is the Waldo rail trail), rather you want to take a right and follow SE 4th for about 3/4 of a mile. On the left will be the continuation of the Hawthorne trail. No more directions… just follow the trail now!
-The main entrance for the Hawthorne Trail is at Boulware Springs and can be reached via Hawthorne road and taking a right onto SE 15th st. (see map)
-From Hawthorne look for signs on 301 and the trailhead is located at 300 SW 2nd Avenue.

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