Paynes Prairie Preserve: “Where the Wild Things Are”
Your first step into Paynes Prairie is the step of an explorer – firstly because centuries before, the same steps were trailblazed by people who are now only memories – and secondly, because no two journeys through this Prairie are the same. During one visit, you may encounter rare wild horses grazing peacefully in the open, and on your next visit, they are nowhere to be seen…but a gator is there to greet you instead! As time marches on, so do the seasons and generations of visitors to the Prairie. The one constant through the ever-shifting times? The natural beauty of Paynes Prairie remains just as breathtaking, and the memory of it will stay with everyone lucky enough to visit.
Hikes, Bikes, and Railroad Spikes
Paynes Prairie Preserve boasts half-a-dozen breathtaking trails for guests to hike, bike, or even travel on horseback! Weaving through the Floridian freshwater marsh, each trail offers unique scenic outcroppings and possible wildlife sightings. However, there’s more to the Gainesville-Hawthorn State Trail than meets the eye.
The now-idyllic greenway once had iron and spikes’ industrial appearance because the winding path was a rail bed! The first tracks belonged to the Florida Railroad Corporation, and the route was part of a steamboat-railroad system for transporting goods.1 As you keep an eye out for wildlife – from turtles to bald eagles – be sure to look for remnants of the old railroad, too. Concrete mileage markers, trestles, and whistle markers remain, a testament to man’s presence in Paynes Prairie.
Who’s Who of Paynes Prairie
Just as visitors today flock to Paynes Prairie to camp overnight, birdwatch, or canoe across the sparkling waters of Lake Wauberg, people were doing much the same over 500 years ago. With the land unadulterated and appearing as it did then, you don’t even have to imagine why. William Bartram, a famous naturalist from the 1800s and great admirer of Florida in general and Paynes Prairie in particular, wrote some of the spot’s most eloquent accounts. Aside from sounding “old-fashioned,” his descriptions could have been written yesterday. Bartram recorded,
“Herds of sprightly deer, squadrons of the beautiful, fleet Seminole horse, flocks of turkeys, civilized communities of the sonorous, watchful crane, mix together, appearing happy and contented in the enjoyment of peace.”2
But Bartram was not the only one who relished in the beauty of the Prairie. Before him were Spanish cattle ranchers in the 1600s and Seminole Indians in the mid-1700s.3 “La Chua,” now the name of the most popular trail, was originally the largest ranch. It was a corruption of an Indian word and was further corrupted into “Alachua County.”4
What about Paynes Prairie itself, you ask, is there a story behind that name? You bet! In the mid-1700s, the prairie became a stronghold of the Seminole tribe led by Chief Ahaya, the Cowkeeper. The prairie was eventually named after his eldest surviving son, Payne.5 Fascinating, right?! But I won’t give you all the historical spoilers because that’s what the Visitor Center and their nifty interactive exhibits are for!
The Wild Things
Wild Horses
The wild horses are the real gems of Paynes Prairie and are tougher to spot than most wildlife because of how often they move around. La Chua Trail is a good place to start your search, though some visitors have had better luck spotting them from the top of the 50-foot observation tower on the Wacahoota Trail. Like the trails, these horses are also remnants of the past, descended from the horses originally brought by the Spanish in the 1500s!6,7
Perhaps Ponce de Leon was riding one of these horses’ ancestors when he named the land “la Florida” after the “feast of the flowers” in Spain!8 These beautiful wild horses are sometimes referred to as “cracker horses” because early American cowboys would tame them using a whip, which (as we all know from the Indiana Jones movies) makes a loud cracking sound.9
However, the ones who roam these peaceful grasslands are unbridled and free, ranging in color from midnight black to chestnut brown and soft grey. William Bartram recorded “an extremely pleasant day” where he witnessed “squadrons of horse, peaceably browzing [sic] on the tender, sweet grass.”10 Today, such a sighting still has the makings of an extremely pleasant day!
Bison
You might say, “Toto, I have a feeling we aren’t in Florida anymore” when you see the bison, but believe it or not, they’re part of the Paynes Prairie package! Although buffalo brings to mind the wild west, they were native to Florida in the 1700s. To restore the Prairie to its original glory, the Florida park service reintroduced a herd of 10 bison to the area in 1975.11
The herd is now over 50 strong, and though buffalo are enormous, they are adept at hiding in the tall grass. This means it might take a few trips to Paynes Prairie before you spot one of these noble beasts, but the wait will be well worth it! Heather Grames, assistant park manager, said the bison are “by far the most charismatic and popular characters in the park!”12 And if you don’t see one in the park, you might see one on your morning commute to Micanopy if they escape from the state park as they did back in May 2018! (Don’t worry, they were all safely returned!)13
Gators
Alligators are plentiful and nearby at Paynes Prairie! They’re different from crocodiles, but you may still find yourself feeling a little like Steven Irwin as you traverse the La Chua Trail, where they often reside. Indeed, Melanie Kaplan, writing for the Washington Post, visited the Prairie and reported, “A few times, we wouldn’t see an alligator nestled in the grasses until we were nearly on top of it. One was only five feet away, its eyes open and its feet moving in slow motion as though it were stretching after a nap.”14 This is not a rare encounter on the La Chua Trail, as one travel blogger tallied 100 alligators during one hike!15
As the horses and bison, the gators, too, are a remnant of the past – not hard to believe with their incredibly prehistoric appearance! Back in 1774, William Bartram wrote that the alligators “…are so abundant that if permitted by them, I could walk over any part of the basin and the river upon their heads, which slowly float and turnabout, like knotty chunks or logs of wood.”16
All I can say to Bartram is, just because you could doesn’t mean you should! Like Bartram, not only will you see plenty of gators, but you may even hear what he described as “the thundering alligator [and] his horrifying roar,” likely the sound of a male bellowing to set his territory during mating season.17 (Baby gators make noise too, but they’re squeakier, almost like lasers from a cheesy 1980s sci-fi flick!) Snap a close-up of one of these regal reptiles, and you’ll definitely have your friends saying, “Crikey!”
Although horses, bison, and gators are some of the biggest attractions, Paynes Prairie is also home to 430 other vertebrate species and 800 kinds of plants.18 If you camp overnight, you’ll also witness the spectacular sunrise, sunset, and stargazing to be had in the wild expanse of the Prairie. There is an endless abundance of nature here to be discovered and appreciated. Thankfully, as Florida’s first official state preserve, it is a place where these creatures, great and small, are protected but free, as they should be. Paynes Prairie will remain a constant beauty and adventure source, inspiring generations to come with such diligent care.
Cover Image
Photo: Tristan Loper via Flickr
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