One of the country’s most celebrated natural areas, the Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, a vast watery expanse with a raw but subtle appeal that makes a stark contrast to America’s more mountainous national parks. The most dramatic sights are small pockets of trees poking above a completely flat sawgrass plain, yet these wide-open spaces resonate with life, forming part of an ever-changing ecosystem, evolved through a unique combination of climate, vegetation and wildlife. Traditionally encompassing everything south of Lake Okeechobee, only a comparatively small section around Florida’s southern tip is under the federal protection of Everglades National Park.
Established in 1947, the park was created not simply because of the region’s sheer beauty, but rather to protect the mind-boggling web of life that calls it home – comprising an astonishing nine natural habitats, it supports more than 350 species of bird alone, as well as fifty reptile varieties (including the American alligator, the park’s unofficial mascot). Hot, buggy and majestic, its humid hammocks and density of flora provide a welcome contrast to theme parks and nightclubs, and visitors here are spoilt for mesmerizing hiking, kayaking and wildlife-spotting opportunities.
EVERGLADES ALLIGATOR
Highlights
1 The Anhinga Trail In season, this popular hiking path is teeming with herons, egrets and plenty of alligators.
2 Shark Valley Cycle or join the entertaining – and educational – tram tour into the heart of the “River of Grass”, where you’re bound to see plenty of wildlife such as otters and gators.
3 Big Cypress Seminole Reservation Soak up Seminole culture and walk a fascinating boardwalk trail through cypress swamp at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum.
4 Fakahatchee Strand Roam through this alluring swamp of dwarf cypress trees and royal palms, domain of the rare Florida panther.
5 Everglades City Take a kayaking tour, crack into buttery crab claws or just catch the breeze coming off the bay in this charming backwater.
6 Ten Thousand Islands Ply the waters of this archipelago of dense mangrove cays, home to pelicans, dolphins and sea turtles, by boat or by canoe.
EVERGLADES ESSENTIALS
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
By car Everglades National Park has three main entrances. The popular southern section of the park can be reached by taking the Florida’s Turnpike Extension to Homestead, where it drops you on US-1 South. Turn right at the first traffic light (onto West Palm Drive, or 344th St) and follow the signs for the park entrance. Centrally located Shark Valley can only be accessed from two-lane US-41 (the Tamiami Trail), 25 miles from Florida’s Turnpike. US-41 runs along the northern edge of the park between Miami and Naples, and also provides the only land access to the park entrance at Everglades City, the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Miccosukee Indian Village. There is no direct road between Flamingo and Everglades City, although you could connect the dots by canoe via the Wilderness Waterway.
By tour There is no public transport along US-41, nor to any of the park entrances, though day-trips are organized by almost every tour operator in Miami and Naples as well as by the Everglades International Hostel in Florida City.
Park entry fees Park entry is free at Everglades City, although from here you can travel only by boat or canoe. At the other entrances it’s $10 per car and $5 for pedestrians and cyclists. Entry tickets are valid for seven days and can be used at any entrance.
Tourist information Contact park headquarters at 
305 242 7700, 
nps.gov/ever.
ACCOMMODATION
In the park Apart from two drive-in campsites (see Flamingo Campground and Monument Lake Campground), accommodation within the park is limited to forty-plus backcountry campgrounds. In most cases these are raised wooden platforms with a roof and chemical toilet, accessible by boat or canoe. To stay, you need to pick up a backcountry permit ($10 plus $2 per person, free May–Nov), from the closest visitor centre, no more than 24hr beforehand. One backcountry site at Flamingo, Pearl Bay, is accessible to disabled visitors, with lower ground access to huts and other facilities.
Outside the park Convenient bases outside the park include Florida City, Everglades City, Naples and Homestead.
WHEN TO VISIT
Winter The park is open year-round, but the most favourable time to visit is winter (Dec–April). In this cooler season, receding floodwaters cause wildlife to congregate around gator holes, ranger-led activities are frequent, the humidity tamps down, and mosquitoes are bearable.
Summer In summer (May–Sept), afternoon storms flood the prairies, park activities are substantially reduced, and mosquitoes are a severe annoyance.
Shoulder seasons Visiting between seasons is also a good idea (April to early May and mid-Oct to Nov). The park is less crowded at this time, and has mild weather, although ranger activities are curtailed.
EVERGLADES ECOLOGY
Appearing as flat as a tabletop, the limestone on which the Everglades stands (once part of the sea bed) actually tilts very slightly – a few inches over seventy miles – toward the southwest. For thousands of years, water flowed as a sixty-mile-wide sheet through the Everglades, from Lake Okeechobee to the coast. This sheet flow replenishes the sawgrass, which grows on a thin layer of soil – or “marl” – formed by decaying vegetation on the limestone base, and gives birth to the algae at the foot of a complex food chain that sustains much larger creatures, most notably alligators.
ALLIGATORS
Alligators earn their “keepers of the Everglades” nickname during the dry winter season. After the summer floodwaters have reached the sea, drained through the bedrock, or simply evaporated, the Everglades is barren except for the water accumulated in ponds or “gator holes” – created when an alligator senses water and clears the soil covering it with its tail. Besides nourishing the alligator, the pond provides a home for other wildlife until the summer rains return.
HAMMOCKS, BAYHEADS AND PINEWOODS
Sawgrass covers much of the Everglades, but where natural indentations in the limestone fill with marl, tree islands – or hammocks – appear, just high enough to stand above the flood waters and fertile enough to support a variety of trees and plants. Close to hammocks, often surrounding gator holes, you’ll find wispy, green-leafed willows. Smaller patches of vegetation, like small green humps, are called “bayheads”. Pinewoods grow in the few places where the elevation exceeds 7ft and, in the deep depressions that hold water the longest, dwarf cypress trees flourish, their treetops forming a distinctive “cypress dome” when large numbers cover an extensive area.
THREATS AND PRESERVATION
Everglades National Park is as fragile as it is fascinating. Florida experienced major population growth in the twentieth century, and the subsequent damage caused by uncontrolled hunting, road building and draining the Everglades for farmland gave rise to a significant conservation lobby. In 1947, a section of the Everglades was declared a national park, but unrestrained commercial use of nearby areas continued to upset the Everglades’ natural cycle. The 1200 miles of canals built to divert the flow of water away from the Everglades toward the state’s expanding cities, the poisoning caused by agricultural chemicals from the farmlands around Lake Okeechobee, and the broader changes wrought by global warming and invasion by non-native species, threaten to turn Florida’s greatest natural asset into a wasteland.
In an attempt to increase the natural sheet flow in the Everglades, Congress authorized a thirty-year, $7.8 billion plan in 2000 to dismantle miles of levees and canals, and divert and store part of the 1.7 billion gallons of water lost each day (in the flow from Lake Okeechobee to the ocean) for later use. A potentially major step forward was made in 2008 when the government purchased sugar-cane plantations to the south of Lake Okeechobee for $1.34 billion, though it remains to be seen how much of this land will actually be set aside for restoration. Given the complexity of the project, it will be some time before it’s clear whether the plan will produce any of the desired results.
Southern section
The southern section of the park – containing the Pine Island area and Flamingo – holds virtually everything that makes the Everglades tick. Spend a well-planned day or two here for an introduction to the park’s complex ecology, starting at its largest information hub, the Ernest Coe Visitor Center. From here the road passes through the park entrance, and continues for 38 miles to the tiny coastal settlement of Flamingo, a one-time pioneer fishing colony now comprising a marina and campground. The short walking trails (none longer than half a mile) along the route will keep you engaged for hours; devote at least one day to walking and another to the canoe trails close to Flamingo.
Pine Island
Hwy-9336 • Trails open 24hr
The first section of this part of the park is known as Pine Island, containing some of the most rewarding hiking trails in the Everglades. Pop into the barebones Royal Palm Visitor Center, four miles from the main park entrance, which usually hosts ranger activities but has little in the way of information, though there is a small gift and book store (daily: April–Dec 9am–4.15pm; Jan–March 8am–4.15pm).
Anhinga Trail
Park visitors eager to spot an alligator tend to be satisfied by walking the Anhinga Trail here; the reptiles are easily seen during the winter, often splayed near the trail, looking like plastic props. They’re notoriously lazy, but give them a wide berth, as they can be extremely swift if provoked. Turtles, herons and the odd garfish are also likely to turn up on the route, and keep an eye out for the bizarre anhinga, a black-bodied bird resembling an elongated cormorant, which, after diving for fish, spends ages drying itself on rocks and tree branches with its white-tipped wings fully spread. Get an early start on the trail to beat the crowds.
Gumbo Limbo Trail
Next to the Anhinga Trail, but very different, the Gumbo Limbo Trail is a hardwood jungle hammock packed with exotic subtropical growths: strangler fig, red-barked gumbo limbo, royal palm, wild coffee and resurrection ferns. The latter appear dead during the dry season, but “resurrect” themselves in the summer rains to form a lush collar of green.
Pinelands Trail
In comparison to the Gumbo Limbo Trail, the Pinelands Trail, three miles further on, offers an undramatic half-mile ramble through a forest of slash pine, though the solitude comes as a welcome relief after the busier walks. Green-fingered visitors take note: plant diversity on this trail rivals that of sea life in a coral reef. The hammering of woodpeckers is often the loudest sound you’ll hear.
Pa-hay-okee Overlook Trail
A variety of birdlife – including egrets, red-shouldered hawks and circling vultures – is viewable six miles beyond the Pinelands Trail from the Pa-hay-okee Overlook Trail, which emerges from a stretch of dwarf cypress to face a sweeping expanse of sawgrass. Pa-hay-okee is a Seminole word meaning “grassy waters”, an apt description that exemplifies how people struggle to define this region that is not quite water, not quite land.
Mahogany Hammock Trail
The mahogany trees of the Mahogany Hammock Trail, seven miles from the Overlook Trail, are surprisingly small despite being the largest of the type in the country. A greater draw are the colourful snails and golden orb spiders lurking among their branches. You’ll also spy the wonderfully named gumbo limbo, known colloquially as the “sunburn tree” or “tourist tree”, owing to its peeling red bark.
Flamingo and around
A century ago, the only way to reach FLAMINGO was by boat, a fact that failed to deter a small group of settlers who came here to fish, hunt, smuggle, and get paralytic on moonshine whiskey. It didn’t even have a name until the opening of a post office made one necessary: “Flamingo” was eventually chosen due to the flocks of lanky pink-plumed birds that seasonally inhabited the area. While it’s hard to spot flamingos nowadays, you will find an abundance of another bright bird – the roseate spoonbill – often mistaken for its peach-coloured friend.
The completion of the road to Homestead in 1922 was expected to bring boom
times to Flamingo, but as it turned out, most people seized on it as a
chance to leave. None of the old buildings remain, and the main trade of
present-day Flamingo is servicing the needs of sport-fishing fanatics. The
marina store (Mon–Fri 7am–5.30pm, Sat &
Sun 6am–5.30pm; 239 695 3101) is the go-to place for buying
supplies and snacks. The nearby visitor center has a great viewing deck overlooking the bay, maps on
local walks, and a small exhibition on regional fauna and flora.
WILDERNESS WATERWAY
Anybody adequately skilled with the paddle, equipped with rough
camping gear, and with a week to spare should have a crack at the
99-mile Wilderness Waterway, a marked
kayak trail between Flamingo and Everglades City, with numerous
backcountry campgrounds en route. Take a compass, maps and ample provisions, including at least a gallon of water
per person per day. Carry supplies in hard containers, as raccoons can
chew through soft ones. Be sure to leave a detailed plan of your journey
and its expected duration with a park ranger. Finally, pay heed to the
latest weather forecast and note the tidal patterns if you’re canoeing
in a coastal area. If you need help with planning the
trip, kayak rentals or lifts to the waterway, contact the
Flamingo marina or Everglades International Hostel. Also quite useful is the National Park Service’s
printable wilderness trip planner, which includes a gear checklist and
campsite descriptions ( nps.gov/ever).
Canoe trails
Tandem canoes $22/half-day, $32/day, $40/24hr, kayaks
$35/half-day, $45/day, $55/24hr • 239 695 3101, evergladesnationalparkboattoursflamingo.com
You’ll find several walking trails within reach of Flamingo, but more promising are the numerous canoe trails. Rent a tandem canoe or kayak from the marina store, and get maps and advice from the visitor centre. An easy-going option – if you’ve no experience whatsoever, it’s best to hop on a guided tour via the visitor centre – is the two-mile Noble Hammock Trail, passing through sawgrass and around dense mangroves. Segments of the trail are very narrow, though, and do require some agility. An alternative, the Mud Lake Loop (6.8 miles), links the Buttonwood Canal, Coot’s Bay, Mud Lake and the Bear Lake Canoe Trail, with plenty of opportunities for prime birdwatching.
Backcountry Boat Cruise
Multiple tours daily, check website as times vary
according to season; 1hr 45min • $32.25 • In season, reserve at least
36hr in advance on 239 695 3101, evergladesnationalparkboattoursflamingo.com
If you lack faith in your own abilities, take a guided boat trip from the marina. The Backcountry Boat Cruise makes a tranquil foray around the mangrove-enshrouded Coot and Whitewater bays, from where you’ll see plenty of waterbirds and a cantankerous gator or two.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: SOUTHERN SECTION
By car Pine Island is an hour’s drive from downtown Miami. You will be reliant on your vehicle – there is no public transport in the park.
By tour bus Island Queen Cruises runs 6hr tours from Miami to the southern
section of the Everglades ($55; 305 379 5119, islandqueencruises.com); the cost includes an airboat
ride at Everglades Safari
Park.
Ernest Coe Visitor Center The park’s largest source of information is located at the
southern entrance at 4001 Hwy-9336, Homestead (daily: mid-April to
mid-Dec 9am–5pm; mid-Dec to mid-April 8am–5pm; 305 242
7700, nps.gov/ever).
Flamingo Visitor Center On Hwy-9336, 38 miles southwest of the Ernest Coe Visitor Center
(Jan–April daily 8am–4.30pm; May–Dec staffed intermittently;
239 695 2945, nps.gov/ever).
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
It’s a good idea to stop for a snack or drink before entering the southern section of the park – otherwise you’ll have to wait until Flamingo, 38 miles on, where there is just one in-season restaurant, and the marina store, which sells basic snacks and food. Your last chance for refreshments is the enticing Gator Grill.
Alternative D The park’s lone motel at Flamingo sustained major damage during
hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005, and the ambitious ecofriendly
replacement – dubbed “Alternative D” – is not expected to open until
2030 or later. Check nps.gov/ever for updates.
Flamingo Campground 38 miles south of Ernest Coe Visitor Center,
Flamingo 877 444 6777, recreation.gov. Well-equipped campground at the
end of Hwy-9336, with 234 drive-in sites (55 with a view of the
water), hot showers, picnic tables, grills and 41 sites with
electric hook-ups for RVs. The price below is for high season; tent
sites are free May–Sept. You can make reservations up to six months
in advance. Note that there is just one restaurant in Flamingo (the
Buttonwood Café), and it’s only open
Nov–April. Camping $16, RV sites
$30
Long Pine Key Campground Off Hwy-9336, 6 miles west of Ernest Coe
Visitor Center on Hwy-9336 305 242 7873, nps.gov/ever. Attractive campground with 108
sites for tents and RVs, restrooms and water, but no hook-ups or
showers – the hostel in Florida City offers showers for $5. No reservations – check
the instructions on the bulletin board just inside the park
entrance. Closed June–Oct. $16
Shark Valley
Park Trails open 24hr; parking area open
8.30am–6pm • Tram tour Dec–April 9am–4pm,
hourly; May–Nov daily at 9.30am, 11am, 2pm & 4pm; reservations recommended
Dec–April • $22, children 3–12 $12.75 • 305 221 8455, sharkvalleytramtours.com
In no other section of the park does the Everglades’ “River of Grass” tag seem as appropriate as it does at Shark Valley. From here the sawgrass plain stretches as far as the eye can see, dotted by hardwood hammocks and the smaller bayheads. This area is quite popular with hikers on full-moon nights; the parking area is closed after 6pm, so leave your vehicle along the road near the entrance. You won’t see any sharks here: the “valley” is actually part of the Shark River Slough, which ends up emptying into Florida Bay (where you will find sharks).
Aside from a few simple walking trails close to the visitor centre, you can see Shark Valley only from a fifteen-mile loop road. At the far point of the loop (7 miles), a 45ft observation tower offers a panoramic overview of the plains.
Too lengthy and lacking in shade to walk comfortably, and off limits to cars, the loop is ideally explored by bike. Alternatively, a highly informative two-hour tram tour stops frequently to view wildlife. If touring by bike, set out as early as possible (the wildlife is most active in the cool of the morning), ride slowly and stay alert: otters, turtles and snakes are plentiful but not always easy to spot, and the abundant alligators often keep uncannily still. During September and October you’ll come across female alligators tending their young; watch them from a safe distance. You can see more of the same creatures – and a good selection of birdlife – from the observation tower.
ARRIVAL, GETTING AROUND AND INFORMATION: SHARK VALLEY
By bike Bike rental is available at the visitor center (daily 8.30am–4pm; $8.50/hr; return by 5pm).
By car Shark Valley is just off US-41. It’s about a 50min drive to get here from downtown Miami.
Shark Valley Visitor Center US-41 (Tamiami Trail), 25 miles west of Florida’s Turnpike (daily
9.15am–5.15pm; 305 221 8776, nps.gov/ever).
ACCOMMODATION
Gator Park 24050 SW 8th St (US-41) 305 559
2255, gatorpark.com. Camping and RV hook-ups are
available at this popular airboat and alligator park, 12 miles west
of Florida’s Turnpike and 13 miles east of Shark Valley. $30
Miccosukee Indian Village
Mile Marker 70, US-41 (Tamiami Trail) • Daily 9am–5pm • $10,
children 6–12 $6 • 305 552 8365, miccosukee.com
A mile west of Shark Valley, the Miccosukee Indian Village symbolizes the tribe’s uneasy compromise with modern America. In the souvenir shop, good-quality traditional crafts and clothes stand side by side with blatant tat, and in the “village” men turn logs into canoes, women cook over open fires, and alligator-wrestling shows are de rigueur. Despite the authentic roots, it’s such a contrived affair that anyone with an ounce of sensitivity can’t help but feel uneasy. Since it’s one of the few introductions to Native American life in the Everglades, it’s hard to resist taking a look, though a trip to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum in the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation would be much more rewarding. If you’re visiting at the end of December, check out the Indian Arts Festival held at the village, when Native American artisans from all over the country gather to display their work.
FLORIDA’S SEMINOLE AND MICCOSUKEE TRIBES
Against all the odds, Florida’s Seminole and Miccosukee Indians have created a thriving community in the same swamps and sawgrass plains where their ancestors – less than two hundred survivors of the last Seminole War in 1858 – held out against the US Army. They never surrendered to the US government, and there is much pride in the epithet “unconquered people”. Many more Seminoles live in the Midwest, where they were moved in the nineteenth century.
BRIEF HISTORY
Florida’s original native inhabitants – tribes like the Calusa and the Tequesta – died out in the eighteenth century and by the 1760s bands of Creeks from Georgia and Alabama had moved into the state – Seminole was a transliteration of the Spanish word “cimarrónes” meaning wild or free people, and came into use around this time. Pushed further into the Everglades in the nineteenth century, the Seminoles lived on hammocks in open-sided chickee huts built from cypress and cabbage palm, and traded, hunted and fished across the wetlands by canoe. Development and drainage of the Everglades in the 1920s ended this way of life, and the tribe turned to tourism and farming (mainly cattle-ranching) to make a living. The division between the Miccosukee and Seminole occurred in the 1950s and is somewhat controversial. The Miccosukee are descendants of what were once known as Trail Seminoles, who lived along the Tamiami Trail; when the Seminole tribe reorganized in 1957, this group opted to remain independent. Despite recent attempts on both sides to emphasize differences, both tribes speak the same Mikisúkî language.
THE TRIBES TODAY
In 1979 the Seminoles were the first Native American tribe to develop gaming as a form of income, and today their million-dollar revenues pay for universal health care, financial support for education, full senior care and modern community centres. The six Seminole reservations at Hollywood (the headquarters), Big Cypress, Brighton, Fort Pierce, Immokalee and Tampa (with a total population of around 3300) exercise their own sovereignty and have plenty of spare cash; the tribe purchased the Hard Rock Cafe franchise in 2006.
Airboat tours
Daily 9am–4.30pm • $16 per person • 305 480
1924
Across the road from the Miccosukee Indian Village, the tribe runs thirty-minute airboat tours. These take in a traditional Miccosukee hammock camp, where you can learn a little more about the local wildlife and the history and culture of the tribe. The thirty-minute tours can be hit-or-miss, as the enthusiasm of the guides tends to vary.
AIRBOAT TOURS
Airboat tours are synonymous with the Everglades, although their use is contentious. Environmentalists argue that the noisy craft frighten wildlife and impact the area’s tranquil soundscape. Even worse, it’s feared they disrupt the fragile web of algae and flora found just beneath the water’s surface. On the other hand, the rides bring an additional 300,000 visitors – and their dollars – to the park each year. Proponents would also argue that airboat tours are an exhilarating and unique way to experience parts of the Everglades that you wouldn’t otherwise see. In any case, since Everglades National Park was declared a wilderness area under the 1978 Wilderness Act, airboating in the majority of the park is being phased out. The three tour operators listed below are located on the south side of US-41, and were grandfathered in under another legislation – the Everglades Expansion Act of 1989 – which brought them into park boundaries.
Coopertown 22700 SW 8th St (US-41), Miami, 11 miles
west of Florida’s Turnpike 305 226 6048, coopertownairboats.com. Operating since
1945, Coopertown is the oldest airboat tour company in the area and
offers an informative 45min tour ($23, children 6–11 $11) through 9
miles of sawgrass. Daily
9am–5.30pm.
Everglades Safari Park 26700 SW 8th St (US-41), Miami, 15 miles
west of Florida’s Turnpike 305 226 6923, evergladessafaripark.com. The shortest tour,
at 30–40min ($23, children 5–11, $12), and also offers the
obligatory wildlife shows. Daily
9am–5pm.
Gator Park 24050 SW 8th St (US-41), Miami, 12 miles
west of Florida’s Turnpike 305 559 2255 or
800 559 2205, gatorpark.com. Offers a somewhat slicker tour
than Coopertown, lasting 35–40min ($22.99, children 6–11, $11.99;
cheaper online), though it doesn’t cover as large an area inside the
park. After the tour, you’ll be subjected to the slightly disturbing
“alligator wrestling” and wildlife show. Daily 9am–5pm.
Big Cypress National Preserve and around
The logging era (1943–57) led to the destruction of thousands of towering bald cypress trees – whose durable wood is highly marketable – that lined roadside sloughs along US-41 (built in 1928). By the 1970s, attempts to drain these acres and turn them into residential plots posed a threat to nearby Everglades National Park, and the government created the Big Cypress National Preserve in 1974 – a vast expanse of protected land mostly on the northern side of US-41. Today one third of the preserve is covered in cypress trees (mostly the dwarf pond variety), though the giant cypress has largely vanished.
Florida National Scenic Trail
US-41
The only way to traverse the whole of the Big Cypress National Preserve is via a rugged 37-mile (one-way) hiking trail, part of the Florida National Scenic Trail. The Oasis Visitor Center on US-41 divides the trail into a thirty-mile section north of US-41 and a seven-mile section south of the highway. Visitors are required to pick up a free backcountry permit, for either day or overnight access.
Fire Prairie Trail
Turner River Rd, 14 miles north of US-41
More manageable hiking routes than the Florida National Scenic Trail include the five-mile (round-trip) Fire Prairie Trail; its slight elevation means it tends to be on the dry side, giving colourful prairie flowers a chance to bloom in the spring.
Big Cypress Gallery
52388 Tamiami Trail (US-41) • Daily 10am–5pm • Oct–March
swamp walks every Mon, Thurs & Sat; 1hr 30min; reservations required •
Swamp walks $50 • 239 695 2428, clydebutcher.com
Half a mile east of the Oasis Visitor Center sits the Big Cypress Gallery, which exhibits the amazing work of Everglades photographer Clyde Butcher, capturing all the beauty and magic of the area. Framed photographs are on the expensive side ($500 and up), but they also come as smaller cards that make perfect souvenirs (boxes from $16.50). Additionally, in season, the gallery leads swamp walks (1hr 30min) – delightful trudges through waist-high water and a canopied cypress dome. Fans of the area (or the art) can also rent Clyde’s swamp cottage or bungalow, located behind the gallery.
Loop Road
For a bone-shaking but wildlife-packed off-road excursion, turn left off US-41 at Monroe Station, four miles west of the Oasis Ranger Station, onto the 24-mile Loop Road, a gravel track that’s potholed in parts and prone to sudden flooding as it winds its way through cypress strands and pinewoods. Once you reach Pinecrest, things get easier: the road becomes paved and, after another twenty minutes or so, rejoins US-41 at Forty Mile Bend, just west of the Miccosukee Indian Village. Alligators are as common as lizards on the road (sometimes blocking it), and you’ll see plenty of white ibis and sometimes snakes; if you’re very lucky, you might spot a black bear or panther.
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Hwy-29 • Ranger-guided walks 239 695 4593,
floridastateparks.org
After a trip to the Big Cypress National Preserve be sure to visit the nearby Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, directly north of Everglades City. This water-holding slough sustains dwarf cypress trees (grey and spindly during the winter, draped with green needles in summer), a stately batch of royal palms, spiky-leafed air plants, and masses of orchids, including the elusive ghost orchid, famously depicted in the film Adaptation. You should see plenty of wildlife from the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk just off US-41, or along the eleven-mile Jane’s Scenic Drive off Hwy-29. If possible, see them on a ranger-guided walk.
Florida Panther National Wildlife Reserve
Hwy-29, just north of I-75 • 239 353 8442,
fws.gov/floridapanther
North of the Fakahatchee Strand along Hwy-29, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Reserve protects the remaining 100 to 160 panthers that inhabit the Everglades, endangered after years of over-hunting. You can walk the 1.3-mile loop trail into the reserve, though realistically you’re as likely to see a panther as you are to win the Florida lottery.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE
By car Big Cypress is a 1hr 30min drive from Miami via US-41, and 45min from Naples via I-75 and Hwy-29. There is no public transport in or around the preserve.
Oasis Visitor Center 52105 Tamiami Trail (US-41; daily 9am–4.30pm; 239 695
1201, nps.gov/bicy). Staffed by helpful rangers and stocked
with plenty of maps and brochures. In season (Nov to mid-April), the
centre offers free 2hr, guided swamp walks and full-day canoe trips
(call for times and reservations). If you’d like to spot a gator,
the boardwalk in front of the centre is a magnet for the crotchety
reptiles.
TOURS
Capt. Steve’s Swamp Buggy Adventures 877 871 5386, captainsteveswampbuggyadventures.com. Flush a gator from
his cave, track panther paw marks and ogle air plants under the
auspices of the characterful Captain Steve and his off-roading
“swamp buggy.” A signature Big Cypress experience. 4hr; $450 for six
adults.
Everglades Adventure Tours 800 504 6554, evergladesadventuretours.com. Kayaking trips (2hr; $89),
swamp hikes (3hr; $89) and pole boat tours (1–3hr; $69–199), these
last propelled by naturalist skiffers. The same folks run the Trail Lakes Campground.
ACCOMMODATION
Clyde & Niki Butcher’s Swamp Cottage and
Bungalow 52388 Tamiami Trail (US-41), Ochopee
239 695 2428, clydebutcher.com. Get cosy in the swamp cottage where the
Butchers lived for sixteen years, or the nearby bungalow, both just
behind the photography gallery. The
second-floor cottage has two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen,
satellite TV, laundry and a sunroom overlooking a pristine pond; the
ground-level bungalow has two bedrooms, one bath, a small kitchen,
local TV, wi-fi, and views of swampland cypress trees. There is
fabulous art in both. Cottage $275,
bungalow $225
Midway Campground US-41 239 695 1201, nps.gov/bicy. Snugly set amid lush vegetation,
this is the best-equipped of the two designated campgrounds in the
preserve, 2 miles from the Oasis Visitor Center and complete with
flush toilets, grills, drinking water, 26 RV sites with hook-ups and
ten tent sites. Reserve online at recreation.gov. Camping
$24, RV sites $30
Monument Lake Campground US-41, near Monroe Station 239 695
1201, nps.gov/bicy. Located next to a small lake 5
miles west of the Oasis Visitor Center, the other official preserve
campsite offers restrooms, fire circles and drinking water. RV sites
are without hook-ups here. Open mid-Aug to mid-April. Reserve online
at recreation.gov.
Camping $24, RV sites $28
Trail Lakes Campground 40904 Tamiami Trail (US-41), Ochopee
239 695 2275, evergladescamping.net. Privately owned
campground around 17 miles west of the Oasis Visitor Center on
US-41, sharing a site with the eccentric but oddly intriguing Skunk
Ape Research Headquarters. There are hot showers, a bathhouse and
wi-fi. Also runs great ecotours (via Everglades Adventure
Tours). Camping $25,
RV sites $35
EATING
Joanie’s Blue Crab Café 39395 US-41 in Ochopee 239 695
2682, joaniesbluecrabcafe.com. In this colourful
shack crammed with knick-knacks, you can grab a beer from the cooler
and dine on a meal of crab cakes, gator pieces and Indian fry bread,
or choose from a selection of huge burgers and fish dishes (main
courses $9–17). Opposite, make a stop at the world’s smallest post
office, squashed into a 7ft-by-8ft hut that was originally an
irrigation pipe shed built in 1953. Frequent live music. 11am–5pm; closed Wed year-round, also Tues in
summer.
Everglades City and around
Created by advertising tycoon Barron Collier in the 1920s, sleepy EVERGLADES CITY serves as a good base from which to explore the Ten Thousand Islands section of the Everglades, but also warrants a visit in its own right.
Smitten with southwest Florida, Collier began pouring money into the area in the early 1920s, and after the state named Collier County in his honour in 1923, he established Everglades City as the county seat. Despite the completion of the Tamiami Trail in 1928, the “city” never really took off, and after Hurricane Donna levelled the place in 1960, the county government and most businesses relocated to Naples. Everglades City has been a pleasant backwater ever since, existing largely to serve the tourist trade.
Museum of the Everglades
105 W Broadway • Mon–Sat 9am–4pm • Suggested $2 donation •
239 695 0008, evergladesmuseum.org
Some of the properties left standing in the wake of Hurricane Donna have been restored, offering a glimpse into life before the destruction. One such building is the Museum of the Everglades, housed downtown in what used to be the old laundry when it was built in 1927. It now displays a small exhibition documenting the last two thousand years in the southwest Everglades, enhanced by a selection of artefacts and old photographs.
Ten Thousand Islands
The main attraction here lies offshore, in the numerous mangrove islands
scattered like jigsaw-puzzle pieces along the coastline – aptly named
Ten Thousand Islands and forming part of
the largest mangrove forest in North America. For an introduction, visit the
dockside Gulf Coast Visitor Center (daily:
Nov–April 8am–4.30pm; May–Oct 9am–4.30pm; 239 695 3311, nps.gov/ever), half a mile south
of the town centre, which has a small array of displays highlighting local
flora and fauna (including a lead-like manatee rib), and DVDs played on
demand.
TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS ACTIVITIES AND TOURS
The only way to really experience the Ten Thousand Islands is to get
onto the water. Ignore the ecologically dubious tours advertised along
the roadside and take one of the park-sanctioned boat trips run by
Everglades National Park Boat Tours
(underneath the dockside visitor centre; daily 9am–5pm; every 30min
mid-Dec to mid-April, hourly rest of year; from $31.80 for a 1hr 30min
tour; 239 695 2591 or 866 628 7275).
Expect to see plenty of birds year-round (herons, ospreys and
fish-feeding pelicans), as well as dolphins and turtles; manatees are
less easy to spot. You can also rent canoes and
kayaks here (canoe rental $24/day; double kayak rental
$55/day).
Everglades Rentals and Eco Adventures,
located at the Ivey House, offers a range of activities from November to April
(some tours are operated year-round), from a “kayak into a new day”
paddle to a twilight trip that’s concluded by headlamp (guided kayak
tours $99 guests, $124 non-guests; 239 695 3299, evergladesadventures.com). Canoe, kayak and equipment rentals
are also available (canoe rentals $35/day), as well as shuttle
services.
Chokoloskee Island
Beyond the visitor centre the road continues for another four miles across the causeway to Chokoloskee Island, connected to the mainland in 1956. Archeologists believe the whole island started life as a vast shell midden created by the lost Calusa civilization.
Smallwood Store
360 Mamie St • Daily: Dec–April 10am–5pm; May–Nov
11am–5pm • $5 • 239 695 2989, smallwoodstore.com
Nothing remains from the period of the Calusa, and the main reason to visit this sleepy boating community – aside from its excellent Cuban restaurant – is for the old Indian trading post of Smallwood Store. Pioneer Ted Smallwood built this stilt house out of rock-hard Dade County pine in 1917, and it remains crammed with all sorts of bric-a-brac and curios, old medicinal bottles and machinery. The solid wood counter, rickety roof and creaky veranda cooled by bay breezes are evocative of the days when Ted traded vegetables, tools and salt pork with the Seminoles. You’ll also learn about the notorious vigilante killing of local strongman Edgar Watson near here in 1910, dramatized in Peter Matthiessen’s novel Killing Mister Watson.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: EVERGLADES CITY AND AROUND
By car Everglades City is a 45min drive from Naples and a 1hr 35min trip from Miami. There are no buses or trains to Everglades City.
Everglades Area Chamber of Commerce Welcome
Center At the junction of Hwy-29 and US-41 (daily 9am–4pm; 239 695
3941, evergladeschamber.com). Stop at this wooden, triangular
building 4 miles north of the town centre for local
information.
ACCOMMODATION
Everglades City Motel 310 Collier Ave, Everglades City 239
695 4224, evergladescitymotel.com. Freshly renovated
motel with contemporary bathrooms, fridges, flat-screen TVs with
cable, and exceptionally plush beds. Also offers one efficiency
equipped with hot plate, toaster and cutlery. Free bike use and
barbecue setup. Doubles $149,
efficiency $189
Ivey House 107 Camellia St, Everglades City 239
695 3299, iveyhouse.com. Offers accommodation with
shared bathrooms in a historic 1928 lodge (closed May–Oct) or in a
more upscale inn, where you get TV, phone and private bathroom. Our
favourite feature, however, is the indoor pool, lined with potted
plants, a little waterfall and a screened-in ceiling that enables
you to gaze at the sky while you swim. The inn also offers kayaking
tours and equipment rental. Great complimentary
breakfast (eggs, toast, yogurt, oatmeal and fruit), to jump-start
the day. Lodge $99, inn $169
Parkway Motel & Marina 1180 Chokoloskee Drive, Chokoloskee
239 695 3261, evergladesparkwaymotelandmarina.com.
Immaculate and cosy motel rooms complete with fridge, bathroom,
coffeemaker and a/c. The knowledgeable owners can sort out boat
rentals and guides. $139
Rod & Gun Lodge 200 Riverside Drive, Everglades City
239 695 2101, evergladesrodandgun.com. It used to be an
exclusive club whose members included presidents, but now anyone can
stay in this 1864 hunting-lodge-style hotel, with pool, spacious
veranda and antique cocktail lounge thrown in. The cottages are
showing their age, but come with private bath and plenty of
character. If you don’t stay here, pop by for a drink or just to
gape at the historic lobby lined with rifles, alligator skins and
animal heads. $110
EATING
In Everglades City, seafood restaurants dominate the area, which has provided 95 percent of the world’s supply of stone crab since the 1940s. Crab season runs from mid-October to mid-May.
Camellia Street Grill 202 Camellia St, Everglades City 239
695 2003. Pass a multicoloured VW bug, an
oversized teapot, bowling balls and bird houses and you’ll arrive at
this screened-in favourite serving Southern-inflected fare like BBQ
pork sandwiches ($8.95) and garlic blue crabs ($19.95). Dockside
live music at weekends. Oct–April daily
noon–9pm; call for summer hours.
City Seafood 702 Begonia St, Everglades City 239
695 4700, cityseafood1.com. Sublime two-storey
restaurant whose riverfront deck takes in boats, palm trees and
bobbing birds. All the fish is ultra-fresh (the restaurant doubles
as a seafood market), and if you’re here during stone crab season,
you’d be a fool not to order a pound of the state’s best claws
(market price). Otherwise, the enormous grouper sandwich ($10.95) or
fried mullet plate ($10.95) is sure to please. Daily 6am–6pm.
Havana Café 191 Smallwood Drive, Chokoloskee 239
695 2214, myhavanacafe.com. Pink, adobe-like house
churning out addictive Cuban fare like huevos
rancheros ($6.95) and pressed media
noche sandwiches (pork, ham, mustard, Swiss cheese and
pickles on sweet bread; $7.95). Oct–April
Mon–Thurs & Sun 7am–3pm, Fri & Sat 7am–8pm.
Big Cypress Seminole Reservation
Just a few miles north of the Big Cypress National Preserve, but only accessible from Hwy-833 off I-75, the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation features a couple of attractions that will easily hold your interest for an hour or two; as the largest Seminole reservation in Florida, it’s also the best place to meet the locals and get some sense of how the modern tribe lives.
The main settlement begins seventeen miles north of I-75, amid an impressive array of schools, sports facilities, civic buildings and a rodeo arena.
MANATEE TOURS
One of Florida’s most endearing inhabitants is the endangered, hippo-like
manatee, of which there are an estimated 5000 in the state.
Though you might see them anywhere along the coast, their limited population
and the difficulty in spotting them means that in practice this is unlikely.
If you really want to see a manatee, look for specialist operators such as
Captains Barry and Carol Berger at the
Port of the Islands Resort marina, just off
US-41 eleven miles west of Hwy-29 ( 239 642 8818, see-manatees.com; $58), who
guarantee sightings (on 1hr 30min trips), or your money back; advance
bookings are essential. In the resort’s lobby, Double
R’s Manatee Eco Tours ( 239 642 9779, doublersfishingandtours.com) run similarly focused 2hr 30min and
abbreviated 1hr tours ($55 and $25, respectively) around the Ten Thousand
Islands.
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum
34725 W Boundary Rd, Clewiston (exit 49 off I-75) • Daily
9am–5pm • $10 • 877 902 1113, ahtahthiki.com
On the northern side of town lies the principal attraction, the fascinating Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, where a seventeen-minute audiovisual presentation, displays, and a rare collection of clothing and artefacts highlight Seminole history and cultural traditions. The 1.5-mile boardwalk at the back cuts through a tranquil swamp, to a reproduction of an early twentieth-century tourist camp. Panels along the way explain how local plants were used by the Seminole for medicinal purposes.
Homestead and around
Just outside the eastern entrance of Everglades National Park, southern Miami has yielded to agriculture along US-1, where broad, fertile fields grow fruit and vegetables for the nation’s northern states. Aside from offering as good a taste of Florida farm life – the region produces the bulk of America’s winter tomatoes – as you’re likely to find so close to its major city, the district can be a money-saving base when visiting the southern section of the Park, or as a stop en route to the Florida Keys.
HOMESTEAD is the agricultural area’s main town, and one of Miami’s least enticing enclaves. Krome Avenue, just west of US-1, slices through the centre, but besides a number of good restaurants and a few restored 1910s–1930s buildings, time is better spent around Homestead than actually in it. Neighbouring Florida City also offers a number of good places to stay.
Coral Castle
28655 S Dixie Hwy • Mon–Thurs & Sun 8am–6pm, Fri &
Sat 8am–8pm • $15, children 7–12 $7 • 305 248 6345, coralcastle.com
The one essential stop in these parts is the Coral Castle, whose bulky coral-rock sculptures can be found about six miles northeast of Homestead, beside US-1, at the junction with SW 157 Avenue. Remarkably, these fantastic creations, whose delicate finish belies their imposing size, are the work of just one man – the enigmatic Edward Leedskalnin. Jilted in 1913 by his 16-year-old fiancée in Latvia, Leedskalnin spent seven years working his way across Europe, Canada and the US before buying an acre of land just south of Homestead. Using a profound – and self-taught – knowledge of weights and balances, he raised enormous hunks of coral rock from the ground, then used handmade tools fashioned from scrap to refine the blocks into chairs, tables and beds. It is thought that the castle was intended as a love nest to woo back his errant sweetheart. Leedskalnin died here in 1951.
You can wander around the slabs (listening to the 30min audio tour), sit on the hard but surprisingly comfortable chairs, swivel a nine-tonne gate with your pinkie, and admire the numerous coral representations of the moon and planets that reflect Leedskalnin’s interest in astronomy and astrology; also on display is his 20ft-high telescope. But you won’t be able to explain how the sculptures were made. No one ever saw the secretive Leedskalnin at work, or knows how, alone, he could have loaded 1100 tonnes of rock onto the rail-mounted truck that brought the pieces here in 1936.
Biscayne National Park
At the end of Canal Drive (328th St), east of US-1 in
Homestead • Water section open 24hr • 305 230 7275, nps.gov/bisc
While most people think of Key Largo as the entrance to the Florida Keys, the region actually begins offshore here at Biscayne National Park. The bulk of the park lies beneath the clear ocean waters, where stunning formations of living coral provide a habitat for shoals of brightly coloured fish and numerous other creatures too delicate to survive on their own. If you’re interested in watersports, summer (May–Oct) is the best time to visit the park, when the water is warm and the reef at its most active. Conversely, if you’re looking to visit the park’s barrier islands, rangers recommend a winter trip (Nov–April), when the weather is cool and dry and the mosquitoes more manageable.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: HOMESTEAD AND AROUND
By bus From Miami, local buses #34, #35, #38, #70 and #344 head to
Homestead ($2.25; 305 891 3131, miamidade.gov/transit).
By car Homestead is about a 50min drive from downtown Miami.
Biscayne National Park Visitor Center Convoy Point, 9700 SW 328th St (daily 9am–5pm; 305 230
7275, nps.gov/bisc). The visitor centre lies at the end of a
featureless road, Canal Drive (or 328th St), 9 miles from the US-1
turn-off.
ACCOMMODATION
Everglades International Hostel 20 SW 2nd Ave, Florida City 305 248
1122, evergladeshostel.com. Ten miles east of the
park you’ll find this lush, inviting hostel, set on an acre of
reclaimed natural hammock alive with mango and avocado trees. The
friendly staff are dedicated to getting people into the Everglades,
whether that means hooking canoes to your car (rentals $30/day) or
securing spots on their ecotours, which range from kayaking trips to
“wet walks” through the heart of the park (from $65). A swimmable
waterfall, a tree house and pancake breakfasts sweeten the stay.
Camping $18, dorms $28, doubles $75
Florida City Travelodge 409 SE 1st Ave, Florida City 305 248
9777, tlflcity.com. Usefully located between the
Keys, Miami and the Everglades, this mid-level hotel is one of the
most comfortable places to stay in Florida City. Decent free
breakfast, and a heated outdoor pool with tiki bar. $80
Hampton Inn 2855 NE 9th St, Homestead 305 257
7000, homesteadhamptoninn.com. Plush, renovated
hotel with all the trimmings: high thread-count linens,
complimentary internet access, flat-screen TVs with cable, a large
outdoor pool and a free hot breakfast. $120
EATING AND DRINKING
Black Point Ocean Grill 24775 SW 87th Ave, at SW 248th St, Homestead
305 258 3918, blackpointoceangrill.com. Wear your
flip-flops and order a bucket of “voodoo juice” at this lively
marina-side restaurant. The food is good (try the smoked fish dip or
the burger special, both around $9) but it’s more about the casual
Keys-y ambience and frequent live music. Mon–Thurs & Sun 11am–10pm, Fri & Sat 11am–1am.
Gator Grill 36650 SW 192nd Ave, Homestead 786 243
0620. Just around the bend from Robert is Here, this pint-sized diner is a great place to
sample Everglades treats like frogs’ legs in butter sauce ($12.95)
and terrific grilled gator ($9.95). It’s the last restaurant you hit
before entering the park, but even if it weren’t, you should still
make a point of stopping in. Daily
9am–6pm.
Robert is Here 19200 SW 344th St, Homestead 305 246
1592, robertishere.com. Legendary local fruit
stand, serving creamy smoothies blended with whatever fruits are in
season, though it’s hard to beat the Key Lime milkshakes. Close to
the eastern entrance of Everglades National Park. Daily 8am–7pm; closed Sept & Oct.
Rosita’s Restaurante 199 W Palm Drive, Florida City 305
246 3114, rositasmexican.com. Delicious Mexican
dishes, each accompanied by creamy refried beans and tongue-lashing
salsa. The decor’s nothing fancy, but the real atmosphere comes from
the radio blaring Spanish-language news and music. It’s across the
street from the hostel. Daily
8.30am–9pm.
Royal Palm Grill 806 N Krome Ave, Homestead 305 246
5701, royalpalmgrillfl.com. Located inside a
pharmacy, this nostalgic diner dishes up home-cooked meals amid
shelves of bandages and aspirin. A local favourite, it’s very well
priced – a stack of pancakes is only $3.25, and sandwiches and
salads are $4–7. There’s a new, expanded location with longer hours
at 436 N Krome Ave. Mon–Fri 7am–4pm, Sat
& Sun 7am–3pm.
Shiver’s BBQ 28001 S Dixie Hwy, Homestead 305 248
2272, shiversbbq.com. Crave-worthy barbecue joint
that’s been cranking out Florida’s best pulled pork ($7.99), ribs
($12.99) and collard greens ($2) for over fifty years. You’ll dream
about its secret sauce. Mon–Thurs & Sun
11am–9pm, Fri & Sat 11am–10pm.