The last of the Gladesmen
A hidden gateway to the fruits of the Everglades is tucked away on a small, dusty road in the northwest corner of Dade County. An authentic Gladesmen fishing village on the banks of one of the Everglades’ many canals is hard to find, even on the Internet. Driving along the remote Danell Lane, just when you think you are lost, there appear out of nowhere a bait shack, a general store, and a wooden dock under the shade of ficus trees. One of the last remaining family-owned relics of the “urban” Everglades, Mack’s Fish Camp is more than the stereotypical airboat stop.
The Jones family has owned and operated Mack’s Fish Camp since the late 1930s. Genuine pioneers of the Everglades, the Joneses’ first ventured into the Everglades in 1937, when Mack Jones Sr., a farmer, moved westward from what is now North Miami deep into the land of saw grass and alligators. “My great-grandfather was drawn here because of the vast, unexplored land,” Marshall Jones says.
Info
Address Danell Lane, Broward County, FL 33018, +1 888.611.5799, www.macksfishcamp.com | Hours Mon–Fri 7am–8pm, Sat–Sun 6:30am–9pm| Tip Just up the road, in southwestern Broward County, is Everglades Holiday Park (21940 Griffin Rd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33332), a less expensive but more touristy version of Mack’s Fish Camp. Holiday Park is home base for the television show Gator Boys, and offers airboat tours as well as gator wrestling shows and delicious fried gator tail bites.
Jones squatted the land, farming collards, tomatoes, and other local crops to eventually earn enough money to buy the lot in 1944. He went on to open a general store and bait shack. The legend of Mack’s Fish Camp has grown steadily since, serving as both the family’s home and a destination for curious visitors seeking a window into the life of a Gladesman.
Children swing on a rope that dangles from a tree branch high above and jump into the murky waters of the channel. “There’s no other place I’d rather be,” says Marshall. “Just look at my backyard.” Sneaky Pete, the family’s pet alligator, swims over for a treat: a reward for protecting the children. Airboats roar as they take off from the docks, skipping over small spits of land on their way out to the rich bass fishing grounds. Step into one of the airboats, wave good-bye to Sneaky Pete, and spend a day searching for gators, angling, and getting lost at the Joneses’.
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