Potano Paddling Trail now an official State-Designated Paddling Trail

Posted on Sep 01, 2009 - 03:20 PM

Have you ever wished there were a great place to canoe or kayak down a creek within ten minutes of Gainesville? If you have, then your wish has been granted. April 10th marked the opening of the state-designated Potano Paddling Trail in east Gainesville, which includes all of Newnan’s Lake, with boat ramps at Owens-Illinois Park and Earl P. Powers Park, and Prairie Creek south to County Road 234. Alachua Conservation Trust will manage the trail that winds through Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and as well as ACT’s own Prairie Creek Preserve. Click here to view a PDF of the paddling trail.

Florida’s Office of Greenways and Trails only designates as “state trails” those lands or waterways that protect, enhance, and connect natural, recreational, cultural and historic resources, and ACT worked diligently with city, county, and state officials to ensure the official designation of the Potano Paddling Trail.

Channels on the banks of Newnan’s Lake provide a scenic and shaded route where paddlers can see Great Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Red Shouldered Hawks, Ospreys, and many other birds. In addition to these, Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Swallow Tailed Kites, Great Horned Owls, and Limpkin are common in the area around Prairie Creek. Alligators, deer, and wild hogs can be seen from the banks of the creek, and migratory warblers frequent the region as well. Possibly the most important thing about this paddling trail is its close proximity to the city of Gainesville. Residents now have a beautiful area to canoe and kayak within five miles of downtown.

The paddling trail’s unusual name comes from the Potano tribe that lived in what are now Alachua County, northern Marion County, and western Putnam County. The Potano were a branch of the Timucua people and were semi-agricultural, planting corn, beans, squash, and other vegetables, while hunting local game like alligators and manatees.