The UF bat house is one of a kind. Read up a little on the history and how it is unique compared to others when you get a chance. Quite fascinating. And it houses one of the largest colonies in the area.While you can hear the bats any time of day, you will see them only at very specific times of the evening, so be sure to check the bat schedule. They are quite prompt.UF also has an amazing garden here that varies what flowers and food it is growing at any given time. None is for the general public to really pick and eat, but you can walk through the rows of banana trees and giant sunflowers without complaint.Bonus. If you take the road east toward the UF police station, just before you reach there is one of the few seeds that were flown to the moon and back, then planted into a tree that grew up. It isnt marked in any way sadly. It is on the north side of the road. Google for pictures and a more precise location if you wish to pay respects to an amazing piece of history while it still lives.

Public parking along side the road, free. You simply show up before sunset & wait. They trickle out a few at a time, then tons flowing in a sequence all over the sky. Hard to get a good photo but amazing to see.

Come when temperature is warm and insects are flying. Bats leave houses about 10-15 minutes after sunset. A few benches to sit on. Nice interpretive sign. Come a bit early to enjoy Lake Alice.

Such an amazing place and very cool experience. I recommend going just before dusk to get a parking spot as this place can fill up. Would highly recommend visiting if you’re in the area!

Its a great opportunity to see one of natures most magnificent mammals in their beginning flight for an evening! In Florida, its about two hours from the Tampa Bay area and you will be amazed. There arent any nearby bathrooms, so use the rest area before getting off the interstate!

Our eldest loved the bat house and had been begging to go again! Make sure to get there a bit before sunset, as some nights it can be crowded. And pay attention to parking signs so you dont park in a restricted area.

AMAZING! You need to go and experience the bats flying from their bat barns to feast on mosquitoes for the night. It truly is amazing and it is great for the kids! Enjoy!!

Three bat houses and over 750,000 bats is a spectacular site at sunset. Stick around as the bats can be seen hunting in the street lights.

Come watch at sunset as hundreds of thousands of bats leave their homes here to find food and water. Incredible! So many bats.

Typically a great experience. too chilly out for bats tonight, didnt see anything.

I went thinking it would be boring and my friends were exaggerating, but they were telling me the truth. At sunset thousands maybe millions of bats start flying out of the houses, they are so many that it takes them several minutes to empty the houses. You will have a nice time. Everything is really nice

This should be experienced by everyone. The bats come out when the sun is coming down.

Last night, my family and I went to watch the bats at sunset (which was about 8:45pm). It was so neat to be able to watch them leave the houses in droves! Definitely a cool experience that I highly recommend!

This is a good place to watch the nations largest bat population swarm out for the nightly feeding,as they are completely nocturnal.

We took my brother here and to Lake Alice to look for gators in the lake. It was pretty cool seeing the bat houses ive never seen one before! You can hear them making noise its so cool!

I love taking the kids here to see the bats. Lake Alice is right across the street, and youll often see alligators and snapping turtles. It just smells bad because of all the bats. But if that doesnt bother you, GO! Its a great place to experience nature.

Take dinner and eat by the water at the park as you watch the bats fly out of the bat house!Really cool!

Super cool experience! Just before sunset a few trickle out and within a few more minutes thousands are pouring out! There’s 3 bat houses and they seem to never end flying out of them! It lasts for about 10-15 minutes. Definitely check it out if you can! Free parking right next to it and free to watch

Best bat houses on a college campus Ive ever seen!

Super fun trip for the bat lover in your life

It was a great experience.

All of the roads to access were closed. Frustrating for out of town visitors to try to navigate and figure out how/where to park and walk to get to them, we gave up and ended up just visiting lake Alice instead.

A Gainesville tradition that I think everybody should experience if youre in the city for a while. Its wonderful to see the bats fly out at sunset and witness nature. Definitely a very good photography spot not only for the bats if you have good shutter speed, but also the flowers within the area too.

Great place for walking around Lake Alice, and sunset brings out the bats in swarms. A Gainesville destination and lots of people gather daily. Best to go with friend(s) as it is a remote area. Accessible by bicycle and transit

Beautiful place to relax and watch the bats

This is part of the university and its free to visit and experience. But you just cant go any old time and expect to get the experience. The bats emerge only under certain conditions and at a certain time. The bats come out from their houses 10 to 15 minutes after sunset when air temperatures are 65 F or higher. If you are not there when those are the elements, you may be disappointed.

Need patience to wait until sunset for the bats to fly out of the houses. Or could spend time watching alligators in Lake across the road.

So cool every one in Gainesville sould go

Go at dish and see all the bats emerge from the houses to feed... very cool!

My wife and I saw the bats take off this evening, and it never loses its magic. Considering there is no one managing the bats, telling them where to go or what to do or when to leave, its amazing how on-schedule they are. 10-15 minutes past sunset and theyre off! It makes for a wonderful little experience that costs nothing and gives you an appreciation for the conservation efforts that UF puts forth.

Simple but cool to see.

Great experience to see thousands of bats fly out for their nightly dinner run. In early April 2020, they became the most active at 8:00 PM. Stand under trees or bring an umbrella, because they will poop on you.

Great place to visit in the evening at sunset. This is the the time when the bats are active and going out to hunt. If you dont like the smell of ammonia then you would feel a little uncomfortable. Must visit place around the University.

Nice place to walk even if you dont get to see bats. Many flowers and you might see crocodiles around the lake!

This place seems kinda magical. Tons of people get together and cheer on bats as they emerge to eat the natural predators of swamp people everywhere, mosquitoes. Sure they eat other bugs too...Also, if you dont like bats, feel free to cheer on the hawk that snatches them from the sky on occasion towards the western end of the event.Get there a few minutes before sunset if you arent worried about finding parking.

This is a very cool place to visit for free on the University of Florida campus. My son took me there around sunset time to see lots of bats. Lots of people were thete to watch this cool event of bats going out to eat insects!!

Take a blanket and chair at sunset and watch the free show. One of UFs must see and do kind of thing.

This is a must see! I found these bats to be more impressive that the Congress Bridge Bats in Austin. They start emerging just as the sun sets and the show lasts for quite a while. They will go to the bathroom on you, not a huge deal or anything, but it’s pretty stinky. We brought our dogs and they all desperately needed baths after! Get there early and check out the lake right across the street. There are alligators and soft shelled turtles which are neat to see!

Very neat experience. Get there right before dusk to see them all! You can then walk across the street to watch some of them hunt on Lake Alice.

Stopped by and got a parking spot. Loved watching the bats flying out. It is a perfect solution to all of the mosquitoes and insects found all over campus. Good experience to watch nature in action.

Check when dusk is to begin and that’s when the bats will start coming out. There is a small parking lot close to the houses. Arrive early enough to get a spot. Bring bug spray and a chair if you don’t want to stand. They do have a couple of benches. Great one time experience.

A little bit stinky from bats, but worthwhile to visit this biggest bat viewing place in the world.

Please go to this place at sunset. I went around 5:30- 6 in the evening . It was once in a lifetime moment. So many bats around and the sight is fascinating.

Our kids loved this! You need to go right before sunset. Shortly after sunset the bats will begin to flock out by the hundreds. They will be out in waves, so dont leave after the first wave. Be aware, theres usually a hawk out waiting for the bats to get its supper.

It was really cool! To see the bats come out at dusk was just awesome!!

Once in a lifetime thing to see. Yes, you can watch a bat fly around at night but to get to watch such a large colony all at once, so cool. Remember to bring an umbrella with you just in case.

Lovely view of the bats coming out for the evening, they fill the sky which is pretty st sunset. Also a beautiful lake nearby with views of alligators

Nice calm area to play and watch nature.

Cool place! Totally free and if you go at the right time, you can see swarms of bats. Watch where you sit, though.

Very cool!

Neat experience. Second time, will go back.

SO MANY BATS! If you want to see an impossible number of bats stream out at dusk, this is one of the two places in the States to go. Be warned - bring an umbrella or stand beneath the trees. Also, you will see red shouldered hawks snag bats for dinner, so keep that in mind if youre thinking about bringing kids. Parking will be tough by show time so come early or get dropped off. Something every nature lover should see at least once.

A must see if you are in Gainesville. Do keep an insect repellent on you since there are a lot of mosquitoes

Wicked cool experience. Limited parking so arrive early. Bats fly for about 5min. Bring bug spray!

Its really charming to see lots of bats coming out of the house. You need to wait until its almost dark.

A must do if you are in the area! Our kids loved it ages 4,6,8. I would get there around 630 to get a good spot, especially if its a game night! We came in late september and the bats seemed to come out a little later than usual, about 7:25pm. Lasted about 15-20 minutes. Very cool experience for all ages! Make sure to bring something to drink esp with small children there are no stores nearby close enough to buy with in walking distance. It is humid, so bring comfy clothes because sitting and walking you will be sweating esp in spring and summer months. You are able to get close up to the house to get pictures but I do not recommend being too close when the bats come out the are super fast coming out you might get hit by one if you are too close!

Cool experience

Cool garden

I have been coming here for years, but this was the first time taking my grandson. He was interested and enjoyed it ver much.

Really fun experience! Just as the sun is about to go down, you can see hundreds of little bags as well as their unique sounds!

Be careful, dont stand too close. Otherwise youll have bat droppings on your head

Doing wonderful things for the bats and informative helpful staff.

Its a great experience to see amazing bats!

Nice clean bat houses we need more

Lack of signage was the only issue. The event held here was informative, interesting and fun. Several local businesses were showcased. Unfortunately instead of using a locally owned pizza vendor, Dominoes was used. Shame for such a wonderfully run, local, important yearly event. The grounds are beautiful, set in the hammock, north Florida country.

Thousands of bats! Definitely a cool site.

You have to check out the bat houses!! It was awesome watching the bats Swarm at dusk!! Thousands and thousands of them flying right over your head

That was actually so amazing. It looked like a bowl of Skittles but instead of skittles they were bats and instead of a bowl it was the sky.

Over the top Exciting

Our family viewed the bats emerging out their houses, just last week. Based on other reviews I had the expectation of it being an interesting event with not bells or whistles. Its a small piece of land with 3 large bat houses and 2 or 3 benches near the sidewalk. No bathrooms or water fountains nearby and indeed there was a strong unpleasant odor (I had peppermint oil handy). Mosquito repellent would be smart to have and to bring your own chairs since many people showed up. Also, first only a few bats slowly emerged and then there was a steady stream of them thereafter, rather than a large swarm at once, for about 15 to 20 minutes.Overall, it was neat experience, especially for it being free - I would recommend and give it a 4.5 star rating.

Be careful, it stinks and it might seem it is raining but the bats are actually peeing

Bring an umbrella as it will rain bat pee =P

Seeing thousands of bats emerge from the houses and fly into the dusk is an amazing sight.

So cool being there at 7:25 watching al the bats coming out of their houses

Less bats cooler temps. Still amazing.

Went into it not expecting much. But walked away thinking it was pretty cool. Get there at sunset. A couple bats make their way out. And within seconds hundreds of thousands of bats come flying out. For a good 15-20 minutes. Pretty cool to experience if you’re in the area.

Always super cool to see hundreds of thousands of bats.

If other days are like today, watch to the right of the houses! They sneak out around the tree and cross through the street lights to get to the water on the other side.

Cool place

Visited there in late February. It’s great fun to see the bats flying across the street around sunset. Only complaint was it didn’t smell good...

Watching the bats fly out is amazing!

Its an experience with nature one on one. This little creatures are so fascinating. Dusk and sunsets are also amazing from this location.

The bat houses were fun place to see they come out as soon as it starts to get dark yes hundreds of them people from all over come and watch them its in Gainesville by the University of Florida

One of my favorite things to do while visiting Gainesville! One of the coolest things ever to watch these bats… Hundreds of thousands of them circling over to the lake. Was there last night and they circled around the opposite way right into the sunset... amazing photos taken!

You can watch the bats fly out each and every sunset from here. Its the largest colony of bats in the entire area.

Very interesting but stinky! 400,000 bats live there as of 2013!

Cool place once u go 1 time experience is over

Fun to see once or twice. When they start gliding out things really start to smell and their is a risk you’ll get guano on you so do not look straight up with your mouth open.

Must see event at least once if you live in Gainesville.

Be prepared for the permeating bat smell once near by, however once you get past the smell there are (in May) flowers in the fields next to the houses, and Lake Alice across to add to the ambience. To see the bats leave, you need to have patience, they are on their own schedule, see hundreds of bats swarming around, and swooping near.

Amazing time. Although a simple pleasure it was a great experience with the family. Will definitely be doing it again. Its like clockwork, after sundown, the bats come out and it was an amazing experience.

The temperature at sunset needs to exceed 65 degrees. Less crowded during the week.

The Bat house is really cool to see. I recommend seeing this if you have a chance to be in Gainesville around sundown.

This is a fun place to take the kids. We played football in a field while waiting for the sun to set. As the sun started setting small groups of bat began to come out, then a few minutes later, hundreds of bats began flooding out.I have been during the summer and the winter. Winter is better with children because the sun sets earlier.

We went the third week of August the bats leave the bat house right as it becomes dark the smell of bat guano is very funky and heavy in the air wear a raincoat if you are directly underneath their path coming out

Kool place. Smells bad.

A really interesting experience. If you are visiting Gainesville, make sure you make a dusk visit.

Its a wonderful sight to see. I hope they eventually put up some cover so people can actually watch the bats without fear of being pooped on.

Bats are cool, and if you agree, you should check out the UF Bat Houses. Bats? Check. Houses? Check. Fields of flowers? You bet. This place has it all.

Wonderful experience in Gainesville! We went on a misty evening and werent sure what to expect but sure enough 5 minutes after sundown bats started coming out individually, followed rapidly by a stream that didnt stop for 20+ minutes. Parking is available next door. Fascinating opportunity!