Fun little trail that takes you out to a lookout that overlooks Paynes Prairie. If you go in the summer there are often gators up on the trail so be careful. Ive walked right by them on multiple occasions. Perfect place for a date

Very pretty trail and boardwalk. Not a lot of signage so if you go off the main path you may end up lost, but otherwise a nice walk.

Great walk, beautiful trail, just wished to it was fully opened, but, I can understand safety, for hikers and wildlife.

Nice little place, but dont be deceived by the trail marked on Google Maps. The trail is blocked a few hundred yards after the end of the initial board walk path you can see on satellite view. Still a nice little walk where you can see alligators and a lot of birds, but just know it ends well short of the lookout point shown on the map.

Disappointed in the shortness of the walk. The end of the boardwalk is blocked off and looks like it will stay that way. Also it costs money to go there and I wanted a chance to see some of the bison in the park. If it was posted at the entrance I would have gone to the other side of the park.

Great park. Easy parking and hiking trail all on paved or wooden surfaces. Lots of shade/cover wide open views of the praire. We have seen gators every visit, typically at the end of the boardwalk where the water is deeper. Tons of birds and other critters.

The LaChua trail of Paynes Prairie is absolutely breathtaking from start to finish. The trails are very well cared for, plenty of parking is available, the is an iron ranger at the entrance to make your payment to enter the park. We saw WELL over 100 gator throughout the trail and lots of bird. When we made it to the observation platform at the end of the trail we spoted horses and a wild hog off in the distance. On a side note there are 2 bathrooms on site at the near beginning of the trail. We will definitely be visiting the gem again and hopefully in the near future.

Just went on Fathers Day and the trail is still closed at the end of the boardwalk due to high water. Still a beautiful area, just wish we could access the rest of the trail.

The La Chua Trail was always my favorite in Gainesville. I visited this trail regularly as a student. Its beautiful, peaceful and youre always guaranteed to see gators. I was fortunate on one occasion to see a bison ON the trail!I liked arriving early because it increased my chances of seeing deer.

Great place for bird watching. Coming from Vt the parks here are just beautiful, clean, and well maintained.

Beautiful hiking trail in wonderful wildlife nature. At the beginning you can use the boardwalk, in the end, you are walking beautiful nature trail leading to the observation tower. You can see a lot of interesting animals that are quite uncommon to see in the open nature for European like me. And we really see plenty of alligators. Recommend to walk this to everyone.

Got to see gators to day its Thanksgiving day 2020

Great trail. Fam friendly. And saw the most wildlife out of all my adventures this week

So beautiful and peaceful.

Nature walk Lots of alligators everywhere in the wild that dont bother you park has 4 dollar parking fee very worth is free

Easy walking trailEntire trail is open. Easy, level and paved or boardwalk entire trail. Suitable for walkers, wheelchairs or strollers. Half mile to sinkhole overlook, another mile to praire overlook so 3 mile roundtrip. No dogs or bikes allowed. It crosses the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail which allows both. You could park at this trailhead to access the G-H Trail.

No pets. No bikes. Sheesh.

Always something to see.

La Chua Trail is fascinating. We saw alligators, wild hogs, several species of birds, even a black racer snake.

Great place to see birds and alligators.

Great time on the trail! Wasnt able to see the Gators today but saw plenty of other wildlife - birds, snakes, snails. The end of the boardwalk is still closed off as of 3/31.

Great wildlife. Not crowded. Liked historical signage. Peaceful boardwalk only downside was section was closed at the water.

Beautiful bird watching. Many gators, and much more

It was beautiful, and I saw 3 alligators!

Best place for scenic beauty.. and good place to relax and Walk..

Swap birds with long. Reptiles with little teeth. All enjoy the breeze.

From the calls of wild birds to the low rumble of the gators, this was a great experience.

Peaceful and beautiful trail for jogging, biking or even walking.

Great place to hike and watch sunset.

Absolutely gorgeous. Would take a date here.

A serene oasis in a busy town ...Birding opportunities & full of old Florida charm...a must see.

Great boardwalk trail . I am a little disappointed to see that the trailhead is still flooded and overgrown though.

Wish we could have enjoyed the entire trail. No signs posted that only the first half mile was open. They had the rest of the trail blocked off and closed. Boardwalk was nice and plenty of animals to see.

After driving to Walt Disney World from Indiana we needed to stop and waste a few hours before we could check in to our hotel. I found La Chua Trail on google maps. We stopped and visited La Chua Trailhead with my wife and 2 kids 8 and 13. We all had a blast walking around the trails and looking at all the wildlife we dont have back home. We arrived on an overcast part of the day so all the alligators where under water keeping warm. But we seen so many animals we dont have back he the kids where very happy. I plan on coming back in the future very cool trail. Very clean as well. They have signs posted about people stealing from cars so I would watch what you leave behind. We had no problems though.

Very nice place for photos. Cant wait for the water to recede a little.

Awesome place to see some alligators

So nice but wish the full trail was open

The trail is finally open again last the boardwalk.

This is my favorite place to see some Gators up close and personal.

My favorite trail in Gainesville

Parts of the trail were closed, due to high water, but it was still worth it. The abundance of wildlife is almost unbelievable.The sight of all those massive oak trees was worth the price of admission.

Favorite spot...

Dont like it too much!

Beautiful but short at the moment due to high water.

This is the north entrance to Paynes Prairie near Gainesville. It costs $4 per car to park in the parking lot. The entrance to the trail is there. Its a dirt trail. Youll come to an abandoned horse barn. In the breeze way are pictures posted on the walls with stories about the areas past history. Also pictures of some of the wildlife. Thru the barn and out, theres anther dirt trail to the wooden walkway over the wetlands. There are birds, turtles and alligators. At the end of the walkway is a viewing area. Some binoculars would be nice but not necessary. Wear mosquito spray.

Nice trail but beware of mosquitos

Nice trail to a boardwalk that allows you great views Gators, birds, turtles, etc. The observation towers are flooded out so you cant get too far but really a nice way to spend a few hours if you are in the area or camping at Paynes Prairie.

Excellent place to see wild alligators. A little short as a hiking trail.

The vast majority of this trail is flooded (as of April 28, 2018), but even so the boardwalk section is nice. The boardwalk was fairly crowded when I went, which I believe was why I did not see as much wildlife as I would expect in the area... but even so I did manage to see a few alligators, snakes, tree frogs (only as I was leaving at sunset), heron, egrets, limpkins, and hawks.I overheard someone say the rangers told them they expect water levels to return to normal February 2019, but that was likely only a guess. If it would be a long trip for you to get here, Id recommend waiting for water levels to drop enough for the entire trail to open, and calling ahead to make sure it actually is all open before going.I believe the main, southern section of Paynes Prairie is mostly not flooded now, but I did not go there to know first-hand. Bolens Bluff is flooded just as bad as LaChua, but there is less there before the flooding so it is not worth visiting until the water level drops.

This is a great place to hike and clear your head

Best place to see wild allegators in Gainesville. Ive also seen wild horses and bunnies, and so many different birds there.

Love it very beautiful and relaxing

Great place if you want to see alligators

Lock up your cars and have nothing valuable in sight. Otherwise there is a lot to do along the Hawthorne trail, and beautiful sights to see including the La Chua trail.

Great place to see alligators in their natural habitat. Just be careful.

Lovely place full of wildlife. Flooded right now.

Great tree therapy

Bird watching on a sunny day

Beautiful trail, even though most of it is closed

Nature. No fences or barriers.

Always love these outings

Beautiful landscape of fl

Wild horses, buffalo, gators, sand hill cranes, what what!

Birds, gators, buffalo and wild horses.

Great short trail on flat terrain.

Very beautiful

Gorgeous FL view