Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve

The Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve is a public conservation land owned jointly by Alachua County and the St. Johns Water Managment District. The land here mainly is pine scrub and palmetto because these lands were, before being purchased for conservation, owned by Georgia-​Pacific which used them to grow pine for producing paper products. GP still owns a lot of land in the area, and you’ll notice at the intersection of CR 2082 and CR 325 what appears to be an old GP station of some sort, with a couple dwellings, a fuel pump, and a radio tower. Probably an outpost for servicing their foresting machines and maybe even where a foreman or someone lived (the house now looks abandoned).
Thus, most of the land in this area – the region south of Hawthorne and north of Cross Creek, near the old community of Phifer – is timberland. The Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve is a good way of seeing ecosystems unique to northern Florida and southern Georgia. There is a small parking area here and various hiking trails open to hikers, mountain bikers, and folks on horseback. There is a camping area in the north-​western portion of the Reserve, although it only has a fire circle, nothing more advanced. To camp here, I believe you’re supposed to contact the Water Management District first. Instructions should be availible on their website.
I did not see any animals when I visited, but the Water Management District’s webpage says that «the site supports gopher tortoise, white-​tailed deer, turkey, bobcat and a diverse bird population.» So there you go, there could be critters to see!
If you do go, especially if you camp here, be very careful with fire: anywhere you visit in woodlands you need to be mindful of fire, but given the nature of this environment (pine and palmetto), if a fire broke out in a dry spell the whole blasted place would pretty much go up like a rocket.