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GoGreenNation news

Going With the Flow: Hogtown Creek Floodplain & Green Acre Park

Alec Kissoondyal
News Feed
Monday, September 20, 2021

Green Acre Park is an important stop along the creek’s journey and another example of how a community exists side by side with the natural resources that sustain it. For the residents that live near the park, and for the city of Gainesville as a whole, the protection and preservation of Hogtown Creek is vital to ensuring that future generations will have clean drinking water for years to come.

           Located near the Sugarfoot subdivision in Gainesville, Green Acre Park is a hidden gem of the community and another step in Hogtown Creek's journey to the Floridan Aquifer.

           The official Friends of Nature Parks website states that the park provides a “mix of recreational opportunities. A playground and open field in the center of the park provide for active recreation, while trails pass through the park’s live oak hammock, offering a place for quiet strolls or bike-riding. The park also protects part of the Hogtown Creek floodplain."

           As the description implies, the creek spreads out into a floodplain swamp near the park. This step in the creek's journey is vital, as the floodplain filters out some of the pollutants accumulated by the creek as if flows through the city. Certain features of the park are designed to protect the floodplain from further contamination, and visitors can witness this firsthand as they traverse the main trail.

           The trail passes over an elevated tract of land that separates the floodplain from the neighborhood on its border. This portion of land creates a natural barrier that prevents pollutants from the neighboring houses from seeping into the floodplain. Likewise, it prevents the neighborhood from becoming inundated with water when the floodplain overflows during periods of heavy rainfall.

           The floodplain is not a cure-all, however, and many of the pollutants in the water continue to be deposited into the aquifer as the creek heads toward its destination. Because of this, the Friends of Nature Parks website also emphasizes that visitors should “stay on the established trails and keep pets on a leash at all times. Motorized vehicles, camping, fires and digging are prohibited."

           Green Acre Park is an important stop along the creek’s journey and another example of how a community exists side by side with the natural resources that sustain it. For the residents that live near the park, and for the city of Gainesville as a whole, the protection and preservation of Hogtown Creek is vital to ensuring that future generations will have clean drinking water for years to come.

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Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of
Alec Kissoondyal
Alec Kissoondyal

Alec Kissoondyal is an intern at Cinema Verde and a student at the University of Florida currently pursuing a degree in English. He is also a writer for Narrow Magazine and an ambassador for the Florida Hemingway Society. His poetry and fiction have been published in Zephyr literary journal. In his spare time, Alec enjoys reading, creative writing, exploring nature parks, and listening to anything released by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

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