Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park

Gold Head Branch State Park, a Florida State Park, is 2,000 acres (8 km²) of rolling sandhills, marshes, ravines, lakes and scrub located midway between Gainesville and Jacksonville, six miles (10 km) north of Keystone Heights on SR 21. Gold Head is one of the earliest state parks in Florida. Some of its amenities, including cabins, were originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s.BiologyAmong the wildlife of the park are fox squirrels, southeastern kestrels, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, turkeys, and gopher tortoises. The park also has pocket gopher, fox, white-tailed deer and variety of water and wading birds. The park has a diversity of wild flowers. Among them are blazing star, goldenrod, and lopsided Indian grass.