Sweetwater Preserve

The 125 acre Sweetwater Preserve is located in southeast Gainesville adjacent to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, the Downtown Connector of the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, and Boulware Springs City Park. The trailhead/entrances are located at SE 16 Avenue & Williston Road, and approximately 1300 feet north of Boulware Springs Park on the Downtown Connector of the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail. The preserve has approximately 3-miles of trails that are open for hiking and biking every day sunrise to sunset.

Park at Boulware Springs and access the preserve by walking north along the GHRT. The East and West trails are connected via bridge.

West Trail - Rating: Easy. This series of loop trails meander 1.75 miles along Sweetwater Branch and through upland mixed and floodplain forests. Much of this area was pasture many years ago and the native species you see have naturally recruited into the area.

Sandy Trail - Rating: Moderate. In a short 1.2 mile walk you will see 8 different natural communities including; sandhill, xeric hammock, sinkhole lake, baygall, seepage stream, upland mixed forest, mesic flatwoods and floodplain forest.

Intersections on the West Trail have been numbered to help orient visitors to the trail.

No picnic or restroom facilities.

Trail maps are available at the Preserve.