Blues Creek Ravine Preserve: A Gainesville Hidden Gem

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Next up in my very (very) slow progress in sharing my Florida hikes is Blues Creek Ravine, a quiet preserve in Gainesville, Florida that I think flies under the radar a bit.

This is one of the hikes I did with my parents when they were visiting and I was pleasantly surprised!

As opposed to a lot of hikes in Florida, this one was vaguely hilly! I mean, nothing crazy, but a little hilly.

The parking for Blues Creek Ravine is limited, and across the street from the trail entrance. It’s pretty easy to find though.

The first part of the trail has a fence on the left and houses on the right, but you’ll be away from the houses soon enough.

There are technically two trails here, both loops, but to do one you have to do the other. Or you can just do the shorter one.

We figured since we’re here, we might as well do both, and it’s not too long of a hike by doing both.

The road leading to the trailhead (the one across from the parking area) does say “private drive” but you can use it to get to the official trail.

Along the road we saw some loquat trees which I was very excited about because I love loquats and love seeing fruit trees fruiting.

The trails here are basically two lollipop trails stacked on top of each other. We went to the right at the first fork and did them counterclockwise.

The trail starts off in regular old Florida woods, going down a bit of a hill before coming across the creek.

It will be on your right, with a little side trail for a better view of it. Its a beautiful root beery color thanks to the tannins in the cypress trees.

From here you cross a small bridge and head back up the other side of the hill. I feel like the trail is pretty straight forward from here, the other highlight being a green swampy looking pond on the far side of the second loop.

We saw some mushrooms that were cool but nothing else too exciting. There is also a sinkhole.. hole(?) along the trail, but it isn’t super thrilling.

It basically just looks like the rest of the landscape but in a bowl shape. There are more small ups and downs on the trail but it’s not bad overall.

The last part of the blue loop that connects back to the red is along a little ridge looking down at the creek, which I did enjoy.

Overall, like a lot of area trails, it’s not like, a WOW trail but it is beautiful and has more elevation than usual which makes it interesting.

I did like this trail a lot and I would definitely recommend it. It’s easy but a hair more challenging than all the flat trails, and not super busy which is great. Just please be respectful of the residents along the trail entrance road.

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 Blues Creek Ravine Preserve?

Blues Creek Ravine Preserve is in northwest Gainesville, just outside of town on 69th Ave.

Its about 25 minutes from both High Springs and downtown Gainesville, about 20 minutes from Alachua, and about an hour from Ocala.

It’s pretty close to San Felasco and Devil’s Millhopper if you want to make a day of the area.

How long is the trail at Blues Creek Ravine Preserve?

The red loop is about 0.6 miles and the blue loop is about 0.8. Combined I would plan to hike about two miles for the whole thing.

Is the hike at Blues Creek Ravine Preserve hard?

Nope! There is significantly more elevation gain here than a lot of trails in the area (in Florida, really), but it’s still only 62 feet (according to my trail recording).

Is Blues Creek Ravine Preserve worth visiting?

I think so, yes! It’s a really nice, quiet trail with lovely scenery. We went in winter so it wasn’t all that green but I would imagine it’s even better when it is.

It would be hotter and buggier then but its still worth it in the winter if you want to avoid that.