Alachua County opens new hiking trail at Phifer Flatwoods Preserve

Press release from Alachua County

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. — With the arrival of cooler temperatures, the Alachua County Land Conservation and Management Program has opened a new hiking trail at Phifer Flatwoods Preserve.

The White Pond Loop trail is 1.4 miles long and open to cyclists, equestrians, and hikers only, providing views of the man-made White Pond. The trail can be accessed from the midpoint of the 1.3-mile-long Turpentine Loop trail, bringing the total trail mileage to the Preserve to 4.6 miles. The entrance to this trailhead is located at 10748 SE County Road 2082. Parking is limited to along the road shoulder on the north side of County Road 2082. An alternate parking area is located approximately 1 mile to the east on the south side of County Road 2082, along the Gainesville to Hawthorne Trail.

The new White Pond Loop trail is located within a recently acquired 30-acre property, which was formerly a private inholding within the preserve. The White Pond parcel was purchased in 2020 with funds from the voter-approved Wild Spaces and Public Places surtax.

Maps for the Preserve and trails are located at the trailhead kiosk or online.

The nearly 1,650-acre Phifer Flatwoods Preserve was protected through four separate purchases of environmentally significant lands between 2006 and 2022. The Preserve was acquired and is actively managed through the Alachua County Forever Program, the voter-approved initiative to acquire, improve, and manage environmentally sensitive lands to protect water resources, wildlife habitat, and natural areas suitable for resource-based recreation.

Learn more about Alachua County Forever.

  • Parking is always a problem with some of these land purchases/hiking trails.
    Some are inaccessible unless you’re willing to walk a mile or more to reach the trail entrance.

    • Right, I believe that the map shown with the article is in error–there is a “secondary entrance” at the intersection of 2082 and 325, but there is no parking area there. Parking is available at the intersection of 2082 and 234, some distance to the west.

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