A Walk Through Ring Park

Yesterday, as part of my series of excursions into Gainesville's interesting network of nature parks, I visited Alfred A. Ring Park off NW 23 Boulevard. Called simply Ring Park for short, it is located within a mile of bustling US 441 and Gainesville High School in the heart of Gainesville, but you wouldn't know it by stepping into it. Having first heard of this park, (almost hidden behind an Elks lodge) on an Internet running site (someone recommended it as a training course), I had thought it was a playground-type park with a little hiking/jogging trail encircling it (according to its map on the Net). Was I surprised!

Ring Park revealed its advantage over my Loblolly Woods experience when I found easy parking at its entrance. Upon entering it, I found it to be unexpectedly very primitive, even more so than was Loblolly Woods. The usually dirt path on the trail was often very rocky, full of jutting tree roots, and hilly at times. There were parts of it that contained puddles, not very conducive to a light jog. Fortunately, on my premiere trek I had decided to hike the park, not run it.

A little ways into Ring Park, I discovered a place where there were sheltered picnic tables and a small plastic kiddies' slide setup. That was the first and last vestige of anything resembling my preconceived image of this park! After passing this place, the trail become more and more primitive. I finally reached a beautiful golden creek and a fork in the trail nearby. I unwisely went to the right when I should have gone to the left. For by doing this I had inadvertently left the loop and gone deeper into the wilderness. But I kept walking, thinking the whole time that I was returning to the park's entrance (and my car). Finally, I did hear some traffic up ahead and I knew that I was almost back. But then I stepped out of the woods and found myself at NW 16 Avenue! Ooops! I had to go back into the park and retrace my route back to the other end. In short, a planned twelve to fifteen minute hike ballooned into more than thirty minutes. The park does have a detailed map at its entrance, and it looked much more complicated than the simple "loop" I saw on the Internet.

Ring Park is much more interesting to me than Loblolly Woods. There is parking and a place for picnicking with restrooms. And the trails do have benches periodically spaced for tired travelers (Loblolly Woods also provides this). The scenery is much more interesting as well. And, as also is the case with Loblolly Woods, there are no admission fees.

Here are some pictures I took of my experience at Ring Park.