Additional Information for Paynes Creek Historic State Park
The museum in the Visitor Center will walk you through Florida pioneer life of in the 1840’s and 50’s. Listen to a couple of soldiers as they talk about their experiences.
A video is presented in the theater at the visitor center on weekends and holidays at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.
Plant Life
Ten distinctive natural communities occur within the boundaries of Paynes Creek. These communities provide diverse habitat for plant and wildlife observation and photography. Various trails will lead you through the areas of Bottomland Forest, Hydric
Wildlife
Area Geography
The park is located near the Highlands Ridge of central Florida. This location means the rainy season (May through September) temperatures will be in the mid-seventies for morning lows, to the high nineties in the afternoon, frequently resulting in severe late afternoon or early evening thunderstorms. It is not unusual to receive over thirty inches of rain during this season. The dry season (October through April) temperatures will be moderate with lows in the upper forties and highs in the low eighties, with some occasional frost.
Resources
Paynes Creek is one of the major tributaries to the Peace River. In this portion of the Peace River Valley, the topography and geology vary from the hard limestone outcroppings in the river and creek beds to relatively high sandy uplands. These conditions mean there are a variety of natural communities in close proximity.
Are you interested in learning more about the State Parks in Southwest Florida?
District 4’s biology staff continually monitors the biological aspects of our State Parks. Their effort includes scientific reports on flora and fauna found in our area and impacts on the environment from "civilization".
The reports are an excellent source of scientific information for school projects, or more advanced studies.
You can access all of the District 4 reports via the following link:
District 4 Biology Reports
Once there the reports are listed by year. After selecting the year group the reports are listed by title. Example: Select 1997 Annual Reports. Then select a report (they are titled by park and subject). Example: Paynes Creek SP –Gopher Tortoise Burrow Survey.
Then open the attached report.
Pets
Pets are welcome. They must be kept on a six (6) foot handheld leash. Please, for your pet’s safety, do not leave them in locked vehicles.
Please see our General Parks Pet Policy for more information.
Links
Florida Division of Recreation and Parks neither endorses links nor approves of links to external sources. External links are made available to assist the Internet user in his or her search. The Florida Division of Recreation and Parks takes no responsibility a link's operation or content. The links that are shown are not an exclusive listing of organizations available within the State.
