Devils Millhopper State Park, Gainesville, Fl
* all photos my own unless otherwise indicated
Devils Millhopper & San Felasco Hammock Preserve are both on Millhopper Road (CR232), just northwest of Gainesville. This map directs you to Devils Millhopper, San Felasco Hammocks is a further 4 miles on and found on the left side of the road ~ it’s easy to miss as the sign is not very prominent from the road.
Opening times; 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Wednesday through Sunday. The park is closed Monday and Tuesday.
As you can read in my blog post about this trip, we didn’t really get to enjoy the area as much as we could’ve because the sinkhole boardwalk was closed. I’m not sure if they have a projected re-opening date as of yet but I will keep my eyes out and we will return to experience everything this park has to offer according to their website. Note to self; research properly before taking a two hour trip to a CLOSED area!
A 20,000 year old, 120 feet deep, limestone sinkhole from which the park gets it’s name is the main attraction. There is a wooden boardwalk with 212 steps going down to the bottom of the sinkhole. In high rain season there is also a stunning waterfall to be seen cascading down to the pool that has formed below. Sadly for us on this visit, the effects of Hurricane Irma earlier in the year meant that the boardwalk and sink hole were unstable and therefore closed.
*these two are not my photos, just what we had been hoping to see!
View from the top of the boardwalk; as close as I could get!
However, the park also features a half mile nature trail going around the top of the sinkhole which we did have a nice walk around and it was good to be out and feeling the autumnal air which is so very rare in Florida!
The Ranger we talked to was extremely helpful and actually suggested we take a look at San Felasco Hammock Preserve which we didn’t even known about previously. This saved the day for us really.
Not what we planned but much better than turning around and just riding back home again!
