Alachua County Temporarily Closes Barr Hammock Preserve South Trailhead for Land Management and Restoration Activities
Press release from Alachua County
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – The Alachua County Barr Hammock Preserve South Trailhead (300 S.E. 175th Avenue, Micanopy) will be temporarily closed for habitat restoration activities. The trails will be closed beginning Monday, September 19, 2022. Depending on the weather, the closure is expected to remain in effect for three months. During this time, a timber harvest will occur over 311 acres of the Preserve. In addition to heavy logging equipment operating in the woods and trees falling, there will be logging trucks on the service roads, which partially overlap with the trail system. Trail closure was identified as the best way to protect public safety during the timber sale operation. Visit the Barr Hammock Preserve webpage for specific dates for trail closure.
For visitor safety, the public is expected to observe all closure signs. Unauthorized persons may be cited for trespass. When work is completed, the County will remove the closure signs and advise the public that the trails are open again.
The Barr Hammock- Levy Loop trailhead remains closed through Friday, September 16, 2022, for habitat restoration activities. The Levy Loop trailhead is located at 14920 S.E. 11th Drive, Micanopy.
The nearly 6,000-acre Barr Hammock Preserve 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. The referendum was first passed in November 2000. It was again funded by the voters in 2008 and 2016 with the Wild Spaces and Public Places Referendum.
Just as the horsefly season ends and the weather gets a little cooler, they close this great place for 3 months! Really??? 🙁
Reminds me of how they closed Poe Springs for many months a couple of years ago, when getting outdoors was the best thing you could do to stay healthy.
They closed Barr Hammock South for several weeks last winter too…
Thanks a bunch, Alachua County. You keep buying land for “Wild Spaces and Public Places,” but the public can’t use most of it because so much of it is fenced and gated and closed to the “public.” Now you shut down Barr Hammock for 3 months during some of the best time of the year to enjoy it.