Biking Three Gainesville (Florida)
Bike Trails
1) Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail
The Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail State Park runs 16 paved miles between these two Florida towns on old railroad right-of-way, passing mainly through forest area including a section of the Paynes Prairie Preserve and areas called Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area, a curvy and hilly section called The Hammock, and Big Sink. At the western terminus in Boulware Springs City Park, you can follow the park's access road out to Hawthorne Road, turn left, and access the Depot Avenue Trail (heading west) or the Waldo Road Bikeway heading east. Or from the park, you can bike a singletrack/doubletrack several more miles west.
2) Depot Avenue Trail and Waldo Road Greenway
These connecting paved trails can be accessed along the two streets, Depot and Waldo. The Depot Avenue Trail follows an old rail corridor from the Archer Avenue/Rte. 441 intersection to Waldo Road, where the Waldo trail then follows Waldo Road to the airport, a combined total of 6+ miles, although you can add several more miles west of Depot Ave. by riding the sidewalk/bikeway west to I-75. An interesting side trip is to bike the roads/bikeways of the University of Florida just a few blocks up Rte. 441 from the Archer intersection.
3) Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
Paynes Prairie Preserve is just a few miles south of Gainesville on Route 441 and offers 20 miles of mountain bike trail, much shared with horses. Though prairie occupies the majority of the 21,000 acre preserve and its 25 distinct biological communities, there is lovely forest as seen above which contains most of the biking trails.
The Cones Dike Trail goes 4 miles out into the prairie/wetlands area where I saw free ranging bison, deer, cattle, egrets, vultures, and an alligator. The first half mile or so has much loose sand, but then bumpy grass terrain begins as seen above. The views are magnificent and expansive and few venture out this far, so solitude is guaranteed.