Ring Park Trail Gainesville, FL

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My mission living in Florida is to do ALL. THE. THINGS. and one of the first things we did after settling in last year (I’m a little behind) is hike the Ring Park Trail in Gainesville!

Travel Services I Recommend:
AllTrails – This is my favorite hike tracking app.
America the Beautiful – The national park pass is essential.
Booking.com – This is great for finding and booking hotels.
Get Your Guide – I recommend Get Your Guide for booking tours.
National Park Obsessed – This is the best national park planner.
Skyscanner – Skyscanner is great for finding and booking flights.
Enterprise – This is my rental car recommendation.
See all my resources here.

I didn’t really know what this trail was (I wonder how many times I’ve said that on here. A lot.) but I ended up really liking it.

The Ring Park Trail is a short city hike in northwest Gainesville right by the Elks Lodge.

It’s a one-way trail through the woods along Hogtown Creek with a mix of dirt path and boardwalk. You know I love a boardwalk.

The trail starts out as a dirt path in the woods and is pretty typical Florida woods.

Soon enough you’re walking along the gold water of Hogtown Creek. I absolutely love this color water. It’s from the tannins in roots and other decaying organic matter.

There are a few boardwalk bridge sections which I always enjoy and even some little white sand beaches along the creek!

We went down to a couple of the beachy areas to get a better view of the creek and I loved it. It was so beautiful and you can almost forget you’re right in the city.

There are some houses on the right side of the trail, like, you’re looking into their backyards but it’s still a nice trail.

There is a split in the trail at one point and we went to the left I think. It meets back up shortly and we took the other side on our way back.

Eventually we made it to the end of the trail which is just a small dirt area along NW 16th ave.

I think on our way back we went past the wildflower garden but I couldn’t really tell where it was. It was probably too early to see flowers though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trail. It’s a great easy hike in Gainesville and worth the small amount of time it takes to do.

It also wasn’t busy which was really nice. I think we really one saw one or two other groups of people, including at the playground on our way out.

Where is the Ring Park Trail in Gainesville?

Alfred A. Ring Park (home to the Ring Park Trail) is in the northwest area of Gainesville along Hogtown Creek.

Parking is available at the Elks Lodge (where the trail starts) on NW 23rd Ave.

I don’t believe there is room for parking on the other end of the trail on NW 16th Ave.

How long is the Ring Park Trail in Gainesville?

The Ring Park Trail is just 1.4 miles round-trip. It is an out and back trail so you’ll be going back the way you came.

Is the Ring Park Hike hard?

Nope! This is a nice easy trail in the heart of Gainesville. It has just 52 feet of elevation gain and I was surprised it was even that much.

It takes about 30 minutes to do the whole thing, it really is easy and a nice quick walk in town.

Is the Ring Park Hike worth it?

Yup! I really enjoyed it and like I said, it’s easy and doesn’t take long so even if you really hate it, at least it wasn’t a lot of time wasted.

It’s a very pleasant urban hike in Gainesville and worth doing at least once. I really enjoyed walking along the creek.

What is the Alfred A. Ring Park?

Alfred A. Ring Park is a city park in Gainesville with a hiking trail, a wildflower garden, and a playground. The trail takes you through old growth forest along Hogtown Creek.

The park was donated to the county by a University of Florida professor who loved the outdoors.

Alfred A. Ring Park hours

Ring Park in Gainesville is open daily from 7-6 October 1-March 14 and 7-8 March 15 to September 30.

How big is Alfred A. Ring Park in Gainesville?

Alfred A. Ring Park is 21 acres of upland mixed and slope forests. It’s a good sized city park preserving some beautiful green space among a lot of development.