Friday Finds: Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park
Today's "find" is another beautiful Florida State Park in my special series: Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park ! Located just south of Gainesville, Payne's Prairie is 21,000 acres of marsh prairie. In 1774 it was visited by famous artist & naturalist William Bartram who dubbed it the "Alachua Savannah," when he wrote about it in his book, "Bartram's Travels." It became Florida's first preserve in 1971. To visit Payne's Prairie is to see Florida as it was prior to the arrival of European settlers & much work has been done to the park to restore it's waterways to it's original pristine state. The Preserve is home to a wide array of native wild animals & reptiles, plus 270 species of birds AND small wild herds of Bison, Cracker Cattle & Cracker Horses. Cracker Cattle & Horses are descendants of original Spanish horses & cattle brought to new world. They are historically native to F...