This Florida State Park Gem Sits Near Gainesville

Home to the University of Florida, Gainesville is a great college city with a diverse culinary scene and easily accessible outdoor adventures. Explore the region's natural scenery while walking or biking along the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, a historic rail bed turned greenway that originates in Boulware Springs Park, or venture a bit further from town to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, a hidden gem just a short drive away.

Tucked away in Cross Creek, FL, the state park centers around the former homestead of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953), a celebrated American writer who won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 for her book "The Yearling." Though not originally from Florida, she relocated there as an adult, purchasing a 72-acre orange grove near Gainesville in 1928. Rawlings and her husband renovated an old farmhouse on the property, and though they divorced a few years later, the author remained in her rural Florida home for two decades, using the surrounding landscapes as inspiration for several novels, including her prize-winning bestseller. 

Rawlings' house and farm, listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, were later designated a state park. The historic house can only be entered on a guided tour (held at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. on Thursday through Sunday, except in August and September). The free tour, which includes stops at the orange grove and barn, offers an interesting insight into the life of a writer in 1930s Florida. The guide will point out where Rawlings wrote at a small cypress table on the porch and where she rested on her daybed on hot summer afternoons. "Loved this so much," wrote one participant on Google Reviews. "The idea of a simple life, an author's retreat, preserved [and] curated so beautifully." 

While touring the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' one-time home is fascinating, it's optional: visitors are welcome to explore the park's grounds, including the farmyard and nearby nature trails, every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are a few short trails to explore (each takes about 15 minutes to complete), including one that has signs displaying selected passages from Rawlings' work. Literary travelers in Florida won't want to miss a visit to Ernest Hemingway's former home, one of the best things to do in Key West.  

The suggested "Walk on the Wild Side" route begins on a dirt path that leads through the orange grove. You'll see farm animals, including ducks and chickens, and the farmhouse framed by orange, tangerine, and grapefruit trees. Follow the trail into the forest. Some of the author's many citrus trees are still in place and bearing fruit, but today, the woods are dominated by cabbage palms, maple, and towering live oak trees draped with Spanish moss. The path loops through the forest and down to a nearby marsh, where you might spot deer, woodpeckers, or even a bald eagle. 

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park is about a 25-minute drive from Gainesville. Admission to the state park is $3 per vehicle. The weather is usually humid, and the farmhouse is not climate-controlled, so park administrators suggest bringing plenty of drinking water. Though the park doesn't have its own picnic facilities, the adjacent Kate Barnes Park does, as well as a playground for kids and access to Orange Lake. If you're making the drive from Gainesville to Orlando, check out Lake Weir, Florida's scenic lake escape with beaches and a peaceful nature preserve.