Last Updated: August 1, 2026
Williston was only an hour from Grand Oaks Resort, and this was our first time staying in this part of Florida’s heartland. We came specifically because it is close to Gainesville — and because after a month of coastline we wanted to see what the interior looked like.
Williston, Florida
Williston is a small town of under 3,000 people, best known to visitors for the diving. Devil’s Den and Blue Grotto are both here — spring-fed sinkholes in the limestone where you can scuba dive underground in water that sits at about 72 degrees year round. Beyond that there is not a great deal to see in town itself, which is fine; the appeal is the quiet forest country of Florida’s heartland. Gainesville is only about twenty-five minutes away and has everything else you could need.
Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens
Cedar Lakes is a privately owned botanical garden built inside a hundred-year-old limerock quarry. Night temperatures were in the 30s and it was February, so we went expecting bare ground and a nice walk rather than flowers. We were wrong about the flowers — the purple orchid tree above was in full bloom — and right that the real draw is the setting.
A trail runs the rim of the quarry, past what is clearly still somebody’s private residence, and another drops to the floor where there is a pavilion and a series of small waterfalls. Being down inside a worked-out quarry that has been planted and watered for decades is a genuinely strange, pleasant experience — sheltered, humid, and quieter than the ground above it. The birding was better than we expected: a Belted Kingfisher working the water and a Red-shouldered Hawk sitting close enough to photograph.
The holiday decorations were still up in late February. The string lights would honestly look good year round; the inflatable Christmas figures, giant snowflakes and candy canes were another matter, and they turned up in the background of a lot of photographs we would otherwise have kept. Jake the dog was unbothered — he spent his time on the bridge watching koi of a foot or two long cruising underneath.
This swan crossed the pond at speed, made straight for Jake, and hissed at him from about three feet away. Jake, a ninety-pound Great Dane and Black Lab mix, declined to move. There followed a brief silent negotiation in which the swan appeared to reconsider the geometry of the situation — a long neck, three feet of reach, less than a foot of water, one large unimpressed dog — and withdrew with as much dignity as it could manage. Perhaps it sensed that Jake likes the taste of duck and the strain of his refrain.
Williston Crossing RV Resort
This place is a gem, particularly for full-time adult living. Sites are paved, large, and set further apart than average, and many are wooded. Full hookups, with WiFi that ranged from good enough to stream to entirely down depending on the day. The cable signal was reliable, which mattered to us that week — the Winter Olympics were on.
There is a mix of park models and RVs, mostly the latter, and many sites are held on annual leases with a good number kept for short stays. The property is wooded with its own walking trails — an hour a day without leaving the gate.
The best thing about Williston Crossing is the programme. There were daily activities — woodworking, sewing, dance, exercise classes, street golf and more — most of them free and taught by volunteers from among the residents. There is a pool and a hot tub. For anyone considering a long winter stay rather than a stopover, that combination of cheap, organised and social is exactly what makes a place work.
In the evenings the grist mill serves ice cream. There is a waiting list for the annual sites, and once you hear the rate you understand why — at the time of our stay it worked out to about $435 a month on a yearly lease. Florida in summer brings bugs, heat, humidity, tornadoes and hurricanes, but it is genuinely good to see a resort offering this much remain this affordable.
Mornings, the caboose restaurant serves breakfast, eaten inside converted railroad dining cars.
And there are two large dog parks, which after our week at Ormond Beach Jake regarded as no more than his due.
Big Hammock Brewery & Bites is in Ocala, about thirty minutes from Williston. Excellent ramen and good beer — an unlikely pairing for central Florida and a very welcome one on a cold week. We would go back.
The Butterfly Rainforest, Gainesville
Before you plan a visit: the Butterfly Rainforest and the rest of the Florida Museum’s public exhibits at Powell Hall closed on March 24, 2025 for a major expansion, with reopening anticipated in late 2026. Check the museum’s site before driving to Gainesville.
The exhibit is part of the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville — a large screened enclosure planted as tropical rainforest, with a walking path through it and more than fifty butterfly species flying at any one time.
A couple of small bird species share the enclosure and work the path underfoot, including this Red-billed Firefinch. The one thing to know is that the enclosure is screened rather than sealed, so the temperature inside tracks the weather outside. On our visit it was 48 degrees.
They release new butterflies every day, so the numbers were high — and because it was so cold, almost nothing was flying. For photography that is a gift. Butterflies are ectotherms and cannot warm themselves; below roughly 60 degrees the flight muscles simply will not fire. So instead of chasing blurs around a hot greenhouse, we walked slowly past dozens of perfectly still, perfectly lit subjects. The staff told us they become active once it reaches 60 to 70 degrees. If you want to watch butterflies, go on a warm day. If you want to photograph them, go on a cold one.
Some were lying on their sides. For anyone trying to match a photograph to a label afterwards — which is half the fun and all of the frustration — these are the ones we could name: owl butterfly; blue morpho; Scarlet Mormon (Papilio rumanzovia), from the Philippines; Automedon giant owl (Eryphanis automedon), a South American relative of the owl butterflies whose underwings carry the same false eyespots; rusty-tipped page (Siproeta epaphus); paper kite (Idea leuconoe), the black-veined white drifter also sold as the rice paper butterfly; Julia (Dryas iulia); Transandean cattleheart (Parides iphidamas); Doris longwing in its green form (Heliconius doris viridis); and Great Mormon (Papilio memnon). The exhibit labels use a mix of common and scientific names, which is why some of ours are one and some the other.
It is a fine exhibit and worth going back to on a warmer day, when the same species will be in the air instead of on the leaves.
Lunch at the Metro Diner afterwards was exactly right — local flavour and something hot to hold.
Visiting Williston and Gainesville: Addresses, Hours and Fees
Williston Crossing RV Resort — 410 NE 5th Street, Williston, Florida 32696, willistoncrossingrv.com. Large paved full-hookup sites, many wooded, on a property with its own walking trails, two dog parks, a pool and hot tub, the grist mill ice cream stand and a caboose breakfast restaurant in converted rail cars. An extensive free daily activity programme run by resident volunteers. Annual leases have a waiting list; short-term sites are available.
Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens — 4990 NE 180th Avenue, Williston, Florida 32696, 352-529-0055, cedarlakeswoodsandgarden.com. Hours: open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. with last admission at 4:45 p.m.; shorter hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and closed Christmas Day. Admission: $12 adults 13 and over, $7 children 6 to 13, free for children 5 and under, $6 for military and first responders with ID. Access note: the garden is built into a quarry, so reaching the lower level means steep ramps and uneven ground. Check the current pet policy before bringing a dog.
Butterfly Rainforest, Florida Museum of Natural History — 3215 Hull Road, Gainesville, Florida 32611, 352-846-2000, floridamuseum.ufl.edu. Currently closed. Powell Hall and all public exhibits closed on March 24, 2025 for the museum’s expansion, with reopening anticipated in late 2026. Confirm status and current admission prices on the museum website before making the trip.
Nearby springs: Devil’s Den and Blue Grotto, both at Williston, are private spring-fed sinkholes open for scuba diving and snorkelling, with water around 72 degrees year round. Both take reservations and both have their own certification and equipment rules — check before turning up. Big Hammock Brewery & Bites is in Ocala, about thirty minutes away.
Practical Tips for Williston and Gainesville
Photograph butterflies on a cold day. This is the single most useful thing we learned all week. Below about 60 degrees butterflies cannot power their flight muscles, so they sit still and let you work. Warm days are better for watching; cold days are better for pictures.
Check the Florida Museum before you drive to Gainesville. The Butterfly Rainforest has been closed since March 2025 for the expansion and is not expected back until late 2026.
Use Williston as a base, not a destination. The town itself is tiny. Gainesville is twenty-five minutes away, Ocala about thirty, and the springs are on the doorstep. That is the right way to plan a week here.
Consider a monthly stay if you are wintering. Williston Crossing’s rates on longer leases were among the best value we found anywhere, and the volunteer-run activity programme is what turns a cheap site into a good winter.
Cedar Lakes rewards a slow walk. Take the rim trail first for the overview, then drop into the quarry. Be ready for steep ramps and uneven footing, and go in the morning when the birds are working the water.
Give the swans room. Ours picked a fight with a ninety-pound dog and thought better of it, but swans are large, territorial birds and perfectly capable of injuring a smaller dog or a child. Keep your distance and keep dogs leashed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville open? Not at present. The Butterfly Rainforest and the rest of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s public exhibits at Powell Hall closed on March 24, 2025 for a major expansion, with reopening anticipated in late 2026. Check floridamuseum.ufl.edu for the current status before visiting.
When is the best time to photograph butterflies in a butterfly house? On a cold day. Butterflies are ectothermic and cannot generate their own body heat, so below roughly 60 degrees they cannot fly and will sit still indefinitely. At 48 degrees we had dozens of motionless subjects. Above 60 to 70 degrees they become active, which is better for watching and much harder for photography.
What butterflies are in the Butterfly Rainforest? More than fifty species at any one time, rotated as new butterflies are released daily. On our visit we photographed owl butterflies, blue morphos, Scarlet Mormon (Papilio rumanzovia), Automedon giant owl (Eryphanis automedon), rusty-tipped page (Siproeta epaphus), paper kite (Idea leuconoe), Julia (Dryas iulia), Transandean cattleheart (Parides iphidamas), Doris longwing green form (Heliconius doris viridis) and Great Mormon (Papilio memnon).
What is Williston, Florida known for? Cave diving. Devil’s Den and Blue Grotto are spring-fed sinkholes in the limestone, open for scuba and snorkelling year round in water around 72 degrees, and they draw divers from across the country. Otherwise it is a quiet town of under 3,000 in Florida’s forested heartland, twenty-five minutes from Gainesville.
Is Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens worth visiting? Yes, and it is unlike anywhere else in the state — a private botanical garden planted into a hundred-year-old limerock quarry, with a rim trail, a path down to waterfalls and a pavilion at the bottom, koi ponds and good birding. Admission is $12 for adults. Note the steep ramps and uneven terrain.
Is Williston Crossing RV Resort good for long stays? Very. Sites are paved, large and well spaced, many wooded, with full hookups, two dog parks, a pool and hot tub, walking trails, a breakfast restaurant in converted rail cars and evening ice cream. The free daily activities — woodworking, sewing, dance, exercise, street golf — are run by resident volunteers, and annual leases are inexpensive enough to carry a waiting list.
From Williston we headed back to the Atlantic coast and St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States.
