Alfred A Ring Park

As part of my goal to check out the little nature spots around Gainesville I recently ventured over to the Alfred A Ring Park. It is a lovely nature park with a hiking trail a little over a mile long. It starts off of 23rd Boulevard and goes to 16Th Avenue then loops back to 23rd Boulevard. It has beautiful views of Hogtown Creek, a wildflower garden, a small goldfish pond, picnic area, and lots of wildlife.

While walking the hiking trail we saw little educational signs, hikers, and people out walking their dogs. That's not counting the squirrels and other wildlife. With all the trees it was very cool and had lots of shade to walk under. There were even some kids playing in the creek. It was a lovely little bit of wilderness in the middle of the city. Quite and relaxing. I look forward to going back for more walks. When I talked with some friends who have lived in Gainesville their whole lives, they all had fond memories of exploring Ring Park from walking the trails to digging in the creek for sharks teeth (although I think that is no longer allowed if I remember the signs correctly). If your a fan of nature and love the woods I would recommend this little forest in the city. One thing I was happy to come upon was a little booklet for the public that tells of all the other parks the city has to offer. This will give me more places to explore as I learn more about my hometown.

For More Information about Alfred A Ring Park the link below will take you to the city's park page.Parking for this park is only available through the Elks Lodge entrance off of 23rd Boulevard. The 16th avenue entrance is by foot only but there is a bike rack for bicycles.

http://www.cityofgainesville.org/GOVERNMENT/CityDepartmentsNZ/NatureOperationsDivision/ParksFacilities/tabid/182/Default.aspx

Explore Your Home

I'm starting this blog as a way to record my findings as I explore the environment around me. Basically learning about my hometown other than Home, Work, Friends, Home, Store, Repeat as Necessary. I hear about places from friends that I never knew existed here in town even after living here for more than 6 years. And since I plan to stay here in Gainesville and hope to raise a family here one day why not learn more about my home. I plan to explore the parks, see what clubs there are (and I don't mean the dance/bar scene when I say clubs), and just get to know the neighborhood. A lot of the posts will be about places/events/etc that I found of interest here in my hometown of Gainesville.


There are a lot of parks here in Gainesville that I have yet to explore. Not to mention nature trails. There is a creek that runs behind my home and one of the first things I did when we moved in here was walk down with some friends and explored. I wish I had my camera at that time because there was a lot of life there. We found lots of baby fish, raccoon tracks, a nice sized bass (bigger than I expected in this creek), snails, and birds of all sorts. There were the obvious signs of city life there as well in the broken bottles, litter, and the amazing mass grave of shopping carts that we found half buried and submerged. Can't do much about the shopping carts (too heavy/buried) not to mention the local fishes seem to like to use it for hiding in. But next time I go I plan to take a trash bag with me so we can clean up some of the litter.


For my next trip I plan to go explore one of the local parks that I haven't been too. There is one right across the street from me that has had my curiosity for a time now. I see the sign for it when I am driving but cannot see the park itself to tell what kind it is. So I'm thinking next day off, a trip to the creek to pick up some litter and then wander across the way to the park to see what is there.