Several of Gainesville’s nature parks changed operating hours for spring and summer after the recent time change.
The affected parks are now open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. until November, said Don Musen, a habitat naturalist for the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department.
Daylight saving time began March 13 at 2 a.m, causing Americans, excluding residents of Arizona and Hawaii, to lose an hour of sleep, Musen said.
However, the change also means an extra hour of daylight, he said.
“We have four nature parks affected by the daylight savings time change,” he said. “Most of our other parks are open from dawn to dusk, with the exception of Bivens Arm Nature Park.”
All the parks are free to visit, he said, and the correct hours are posted at each location.
“If people were to Google the hours of operation, they’d think we close at 6 p.m.,” he said. “We are slowly getting our Web people to streamline the time change across the parks.”
Michelle Avila, a 21-year-old UF communication sciences and disorders senior, said she will miss exercising at the parks after graduation.
“I love going running at Cofrin Nature Park, because it’s a perfectly sized loop,” she said. “The fact that it’s staying open longer just means I have more time to take advantage of exercising outside.”
