Enjoy The Quiet Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve In Gainesville, Florida

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Another stop on my Gainesville hiking mission was Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve, which is pretty similar to Longleaf Flatwood Reserve.

And like most trails in the area, it’s woodsy and flat and beautiful in it’s own way. Our main objective here, other than a nice hike, was to see Hatchet Creek, which we did.

Although it wasn’t quite what we were hoping for. Still good but not what we expected.

We were the only car here when we got here and when we left, so if you want a trail that isn’t busy, I think this is a good bet.

It was pretty warm when we went, not offensively hot, but hot enough that I didn’t want to do the whole long loop.

We followed the Dome Swamp Loop to the left until it met up with the Lakeview Loop, then we went to the right briefly before taking the shortcut trail up to the top of the Lakeview Loop.

This whole trail, even after this, is wide and open, like old service roads or something. It’s pretty typical of a lot of parks like this.

Once we met up with the Lakeview Trail again, we went to the right. Not too far after that the trail officially goes to the right, and another unnamed trail goes to the left, to Hatchet Creek.

We took the side trail to Hatchet Creek. This part was a little less open than the rest of what we walked through but still not as dense as, say, Fakahatchee trails.

Not too long after we got to the creek which was pretty small kind of hard to get to because of mud and the way all of the foliage was.

It was still pretty but it was hard to see and we couldn’t really get down to it (or at least I wasn’t because I hate mud a lot).

After relaxing here for a bit we headed back. Instead of going back the way we came, we went to the last trail junction then went to the left from here, so we followed the outer section of the Lakeview Trail back (opposite of the side we skipped on the way in).

Overall it was a nice park and trail, and I would recommend it if you want a quieter trail in Gainesville and like this kind of forest landscape.

I’m glad we got to hike this, and while it might not be my top hike in Gainesville, I did enjoy it.

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.

Where is Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve?

Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve is just northeast of Gainesville, not far from Newnans Lake.

It’s about 10 minutes from Gainesville, 30 from High Springs, an hour from Ocala, and 1.5 hours from St. Augustine.

How long is the trail at Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve?

It depends which trail(s) you do. The shortest loop is 0.7 miles and the longest is 2.5, but if you do the outside loop and shortcuts, it could be more.

I didn’t track this hike but I believe we followed (based on this map) this route (roughly): 1>2>3>14>15>16>10>11>up to Hatchet Creek>11>12>13>1.

Is the trail at Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve hard?

Nope! It’s an easy flat trail with minimal elevation gain like most of Florida.

Is Buck Bay Flatwood Preserve worth visiting?

Like a lot of other things, if you’re in the area, definitely. Especially if you love this kind of landscape or want something quieter than the trails right in town.