West End of Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail

gainesville hawthorne state trail state park florida

Park Overview

Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail is a 16-mile multi-use path that stretches from Boulware Springs Park, the historic waterworks in Gainesville, to the heart of small town Hawthorne, Florida. The trail passes through the north end of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area.

The paved path features multiple trailheads and points of interest, including the La Chua Trail, Sweetwater Preserve, and Prairie Creek Preserve Boardwalk, all accessible via short spur trails. Educational signage along the trail details the locomotive and railway history, as well as Native American and naturalist roots common to Florida’s landscape.

Sweetwater Overlook at gainesville-hawthorne state trail — Sweetwater Overlook

Points of Interest - West End

Drop in at the west end of the trail to check out the Sweetwater Overlook, where Sweetwater Branch and Bivens Arm flow into the Paynes Prairie basin. A short spur from the La Chua trailhead through a canopy of live oaks with spidery limbs leads to the overlook. If you keep heading 2 miles west on the trail, you will run into Depot Park, a popular local family-fun favorite, trails to Sweetwater Preserve, and another connector biking trail that traverses downtown Gainesville.

Head east to check out the Alachua Lake Overlook at Paynes Prairie. Large sprawling oaks run around canopied curves to a wide open mass of hills along the powerlines. The path winds up and down next to valleys of fern and meadows of multi-color wildflowers where deer graze, gopher tortoises bury in their burrows, and butterflies are impossible to chase.

Alachua Lake Overlook at gainesville-hawthorne state trail — Alachua Lake Overlook

Take the 0.7-mile spur trail through an alley of pine flatwoods to the overlook where we you can view deer nibbling on wiregrass and horses roaming wild and free around the lake that repeatedly sinks and floods.

Continue your journey under the hardwood hammock to reach Prairie Creek Preserve trails. You can also park at Rochelle trailhead to access these 600+ acres along the floodplain of Prairie Creek, which drains Newnans Lake into Paynes Prairie.