Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park — Attraction in Gainesville

Good news! The loop trail at Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park is now open. The bridge reconstruction was recently completed, restoring full use of the 1/2 mile loop trail.

There is 30 million years of history on display here and that’s remarkable because Florida itself is about that old. This is a great place to learn about and see how Florida and the Floridan aquifer formed.

This sinkhole creates its own climate, moderating temperatures and relative humidity. The result is an ecosystem similar to that you’d find in the Appalachian foothills, replete with liverworts and 34 species of warblers. Wildlife corridors to the north and west bring in nearly every animal in north central Florida including bobcats, foxes, deer, coyote and the occasional gator or black bear.

Several reviewers suggested off trail adventures here, but due to the delicate nature of this geological feature and the presence of ground-nesting yellow jackets, that is not advisable. Stay on the trails and you’ll be safe (so will the flora and fauna).

There have been several landslides here in the past year, the most recent of which was a week ago. You can see in real time the process by which steep sinkhole sides reduce to gentle slopes and how plants, which languished in the shade of now toppled trees for decades, are reaching for the light. Falling phosphatic sands and clay turn the normally clear/tannic water a turquoise blue, just like you see in rock pits, until microbes eat it up.

There are a few misconceptions in the reviews I’ve read here. First, this is a drain to the Floridan aquifer, there are NO springs here. Second, the small waterfalls come from the shallow aquifer flowing out the sidewalls. Third, the sinkhole typically holds only a shallow pool of water or just rivulets leading to the drain. It half filled after hurricane Irma came through in 2017, destroying the stairs. The new stairs are safer and shorter (132 steps now, whereas it was previously 230 steps). Last, mosquitoes are no worse here than anywhere else in natural areas; there is very little stagnant water on this site.

I have visited this park nearly every day for the past 30 years and now volunteer as a Tour Guide. Tours are scheduled for Saturday at 10 am, but I’m happy to give a tour to anyone whenever I’m present; so please feel free to ask. We emphasize the geological history of this site, Florida and the Floridan aquifer.

I hope you’ll enjoy visiting this park that nature-loving tourists in the 1800s labeled one of the “Natural Wonders...

On my way down to Gainesville I wanted to stop here before checking into my hotel if they were going to be open late enough. The time on Google showed 5 pm but I know State parks in Georgia often put the time the park offices close on Google but the parks themselves are open till sunset or later. I called to ask and I was told they had recently changed their hours to sunset but none of the websites had been updated yet. I was also told the office still closes at 4:30 pm. Arrived before the office closed, parking is $4 but can only be paid in cash in the box or on the website. You cannot pay at the office and they also do not have a gift shop. I was told they previously had one but the park needed to purchase a new Point of Sale system before they could sell items again. I paid for parking on the website but thought it was odd that there was not a place to put my license plate during checkout. I guess if you get a ticket you show them the emailed pass later?

After talking with the girl in the office for a while about other parks in the area and parks in Georgia I headed down to the stairs to check out the sinkhole. Spent some time there before going up to do the loop trail. Bring bug spray! I didn’t even think about mosquitoes. I don’t know what breed of those things they have here but the bites were not visible until a couple of days later and even though I didn’t scratch them they left scars. As others have posted the loop is partially closed so I went as far as I could and then backtracked. On the way back around there was a heavy stench of weed in the air. A guy with a beautiful white and brown Husky arrived after the employees left and was just smoking weed down in the sinkhole like it was nothing. Felt bad for the dog that had to...

I hate giving this place a three, I really do, so I’ll bump it up to a 4. Ok, I’m sure this is my fault. I have wanted to come here for a few years ands finally found the time. Parking I think was $4 for a car load on the honor system. I have a pass so I left it on the dash. Walking to the sink hole I’m excited and psyched. I go down the stairs, I stop to read everything, I’m looking at the squirrels, plants the sink hole. Can’t wait to get down there and start exploring. Except….I get down there and it’s a platform. No exploring at all. No getting off the platform. Nowhere to go but back up those a 132 stairs. Ugg! The real killer was there was an old man there using the stairs for exercise. I had to stop and act like I was looking at something of interest each time he passed me so he would see how much younger I was than him and oh, so out of breath I was. It was an ok adventure but I was a little disappointed not to be able to walk around down in the sink hole. Probably for the better. Still a cool place...