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Visiting Gainesville’s Hogtown Creek Greenway Visiting Gainesville’s Hogtown Creek GreenwayBy MIKE WALKER Florida has a wealth of national, state, and local public lands and parks, most of which are open to the public for recreation. That is as it should be: Florida is perhaps the most unique
The Hogtown Creek Greenway is a property owned and maintained by the City of Gainesville in conjunction with the Alachua Conservation Trust. Located not too far from the University of Florida campus, the Greenway is found off NW 34th Street, between NW 8th Avenue and NW University Avenue on the opposite side of 8th Avenue from Westside Park. Another portion of the Greenway continues between NW 8th Avenue and NW 16th Avenue. There are technically several points where one may enter the Greenway lands, but the main entrance is located at the Loblolly Environmental Facility access off of NW 34th Street at NW 5th Avenue. However, it would be nearly as easy to park over at Westside Park's parking lot and walk across 8th Avenue then enter the Greenway at an access path there. In any case, the lands of the Greenway are very easy to access if you're near the UF campus and just as easy to navigate once you're within them. The Greenway came about because Hogtown Creek and its various tributaries flow through this lowland area of Gainesville and while there is a lot of development surrounding what has become the Greenway, the lands that compose the Greenway itself would not be suited to development and, more importantly, are essential to not develop given the fragile and unique ecosystems they provide. The City of Gainesville must be praised for its efforts not only protect these lands but to make them open to the public. Just controlling the flow of water in this area-brokering its ability to remain true to the natural course of these creeks while also ensuring that flooding in nearby neighborhoods isn't likely-must have been a huge challenge. To the south-west of the Greenway off of University Avenue, Hogtown Creek is directed through a grouping of canals and other engineered mechanisms to regulate its flow but when it emerges in the Greenway, it returns to its pristine natural status. Creeks, rivers, streams, and springs are essential features of the north-central Florida landscape. If you drive or bike out anywhere away from Gainesville, you'll encounter such features. Dunnellon has the Rainbow River and its wetlands, lakes dot the rural landscape near Ocala and Orlando, and northeast of Gainesville there are numerous springs offering recreation and clear, blue, water. Hogtown Creek and various other creeks within the city limits of Gainesville are equally essential aspects of the environment despite all the urban development that has sprung up over the past twenty years or so of Gainesville's growth. Water is never far away in Florida: nevermind the ocean-for as important as it is, let's concentrate on fresh water for a moment-the
The Hogtown Greenway, if you enter it via the Loblolly Facility, provides a broad trail that is adept for hiking or mountain biking. A boardwalk has been built to continue this trail over places that are normally (or at least very often) wet and it's a short hike through this area to the 8th Avenue entrance to the Greenway across from Westside Park. The stretch of 8th Avenue here is where the Gainesville Planet Monuments-one obelisk for each of the solar system's planets including Pluto and the Sun-are located so these are a nice diversion to examine up close if you've only driven by them before in a hurry. Within the woods of the Loblolly section, there's a lot to notice if you wish to take the time. An informative sign at the 8th Avenue side of the path notes that a diverse variety of wildlife from river otters to various birds to the rough green snake are found in this environment: You will have to be patient to see them, though. Mostly, like elsewhere in the region, you'll spot squirrels, birds, and perhaps a black racer or other snake. Lizards and insects are also omnipresent and on account of the latter, insect spay is a good idea as to keep the pesky ones off of your body and discouraged from sucking your blood. The boardwalk trail has a smaller off-shoot which leads down to the creek bed itself and makes for a great oppurtunity to examine a creek of this sort up close. The sandy banks, muddy yet peaceful waters of the creek, and canopy of trees above make for a very serene experience. If you continue across 8th Avenue to the opposite side of the street and walk a ways east, you will encounter another boardwalk that runs all the way from 8th Avenue to 16th Avenue, south to north. This boardwalk is a minor yet grand feat of engineering, having been perfectly crafted and took, I can only guess, a fair amount of cash to complete. For that reason if no other (and there are plenty of others) I hope that it's used by a lot of people. When I've been out on the boardwalk with my bike, I have nearly always encountered people walking their dogs or running here, so it seems I am not by far its only fan or user. The magic of the boardwalk is that it runs through a wetland environment which would be very hard to access otherwise and affords a pleasent walk with a great view of what much of this region's natural areas are like if you got right into the thick of them. One can, in theory, continue on 16th Avenue eastward to the Alfred A. Ring Park entrance and there explore even more of Gainesville's diverse ecosystems, depsite being a stone's throw from subdivisions and houses with swimming pools. The boardwalk therefore not only makes for a great means of getting from 16th Avenue over to 8th Avenue (or of course, the other way around) but also a nice diversion into the woods to just get away from your busy life for a moment or two. Back on the other side of 8th Avenue, aside form the main trail I already detailed, there are a number of unimproved trails suited to bikes or foot traffic: you just have to tread with care to both avoid possible snakes-though in all my journeys to Loblolly I have only seen one green snake and no cottonmouths or rattlesnakes-and also to avoid causing any damage to unprotected plants. (If the difference between the Loblolly Woods and the greater Hogtown Creek Greenway is somewhat confusing, know that while the Loblolly facility is that between 8th Avenue and University Avenue and is accessed at 5th Street, the Greenway composes a greater expanse of wetlands and woodlands continuing along the path of the Hogtown Creek.) Be also warned it's often quite wet back on these trails and spots of mud and standing water are not uncommon after heavy rains. Given all that, if you're up for the adventure, these trails can make for a very intimate experience with the creek and woods. When I've mountain biked the area, I've found that these less-improved trails are what's really fun about the experience but the boardwalks are a very welcome feature as they open up the park to all users and also provide a greater feeling of presence as a city facility while not being intrusive to the natural state of things. Within the portion of the Greenway between 8th Avenue and 16th Avenue, there are also several good trails to hike or bike on the side closer to 16th Avenue. One interesting feature here is the hydrology instrumentation box that the Saint John's River Water Management District has installed to keep tabs on the creek. You can find these boxes at other locations around Gainesville, but this one even has a little wooden walkway to service it, which is kind of cute, although also very pragmatic. A lot of people cite the natural beauty of the Gainesville area as one of their reasons for either moving here or wishing to stay in the region, but I feel too few of us on a routine basis actually get out and explore that beauty for what it's worth. The Hogtown Creek Greenway offers a great chance to do this without driving anywhere and without any extensive investment of time or money. It's a very much needed and useful addition to Gainesville's civic resources and its
MIKE WALKER is a Gainesville-based writer and journalist. He is also an avid photographer, skateboarder and mountain biker. He may be reached at: cloudrace@prontomail.com |
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