Wild Alachua

In several short segments, Wild Alachua introduces viewers to the cultural and natural history jewels of North Central Florida, a place of adventure and endless discovery. Here much of the pristine natural beauty that once existed throughout all of Florida still survives, and the footsteps of Florida's original settlers and explorers can still be followed.

Join a young archaeologist on a bicycling adventure to an 11,000-year-old prehistoric tool-making site. Acclaimed underwater cave explorer and cinematographer Wes Skiles takes us 2,000 feet into an underwater spring to witness the discovery of 50-million-year-old whale skeleton that once swam in Florida waters.

Our natural history ramble across wild Alachua County also takes us to the Greathouse Butterfly Farm, one of the largest butterfly breeders in the country. The film continues at San Felasco State Preserve, site of the Devil's Millhopper, a giant sinkhole with waterfalls and fern-covered walls reaching deep beneath the earth's surface.

In addition to a natural history adventure, this film is an exploration of Florida's cultural treasures. Florida archaeologist Jerald Milanich narrates dramatized scenes of Hernando De Soto's historic trek from the Gulf of Mexico through the heart of Alachua County. Moving forward in time, we arrive at the Dudley Farm Historic State Park, a Civil War-era farm seemingly untouched by the hands of time, where mules still grind sugar cane and visitors can pet the descendents of Cracker cattle stock dating to 1513 and the arrival of Ponce de Leon. And in a visit to the historic Cross Creek home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of "The Yearling," "Gal Young'n" and "Cross Creek," Rawlings scholar and actress Betty Jean Steinshouer welcomes us in character to this famous homestead and shares her insights into a woman she believes is "arguably Florida's most famous author."

Come explore beautiful Alachua County, one of Florida's most picturesque counties and home to a rich cultural and natural history.

Expedition Florida: Wild Alachua," was released in 2002 and won two Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards. In 2005, 110 public television stations in 50 markets aired this film via American Public Television distribution.