While in south Florida we took a short detour into Everglades National Park for half a day. It helped that we still had one month remaining on our America the Beautiful Annual Pass.
For $80 (in 2023) an annual pass gets two people unlimited free visits to several thousand federally managed areas, including National Parks, National Monuments, and National Forests. Seniors (62 or older) can purchase an annual pass for $20 or a lifetime pass for $80. I guess a Senior Lifetime Pass is something we have to look forward to one day.
Without an annual pass the cost to enter Everglades is $30 per car or $15 per person (bikers, hikers, canoers). An entrance ticket is good for 7 consecutive days.
Everglades is a massive park. Before entering we went to a gas station in Homestead for the essentials, a full tank of gas and a couple of Subway sandwiches for a picnic lunch.
Because we were limited on time, we chose to explore selected walking trails in the eastern half of the park. We first stopped at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center to top off our water bottles before heading to Royal Palm to walk the three-quarter mile long Anhinga Trail, which is mostly a boardwalk.
The Anhinga Trail is very popular. It is around and over marshland and a shallow pond full of fish, alligators, and turtles. Lizards, grasshoppers, and birds (mostly anhingas and herons) are around as well. This is probably the best and easiest place to see the most wildlife.
From there we drove about 25 miles to Paurotis Pond, mostly because we knew it had a few picnic tables. We were the only ones there on a Thursday afternoon and had a decent enough lunch.
Unfortunately the picnic tables were not covered and did not have nice views of the lake. At least we were in the shade. It was better than sitting in the car to eat.
After lunch it was more exploring, first to Mahogany Hammock. Another nice boardwalk trail, about a half mile long. Apparently the largest living wild mahogany tree in the United States lives here. Maybe we saw it? Honestly we weren’t paying that much attention to the trees. I was more interested in looking through the trees for snakes and birds. I struck out on seeing any.
Next up was the Pa-hay-okee Overlook. Another short boardwalk trail, under a quarter mile, this time with an overlook towards the marsh prairie.
Both the Mahogany Hammock and Pa-hay-okee Overlook trails are nice and enjoyable, but we saw little wildlife. Partially that is because of the time of year of our visit (May), but also from our own impatience.
Our final stop was the Pinelands Trail. It’s a nice half-mile walk through a pine forest. Nothing special. But beware of mosquitos. At the farthest point on the loop trail, in the densest part of the forest, is some sage advice written on an old sign post:
If you are in Everglades in the summer, for sure bring sun screen and mosquito repellant.
Wildlife viewing is better during the dry season (December through April) as the animals tend to concentrate in places near water, migrating birds are present, and there are few mosquitos. In the wet season (May through November), the animals disperse into the wetlands, fewer birds are present, and mosquitos come out in full force.
During our half-day in Everglades we only visited a small section of the park. We did not even drive the 38 miles to the Flamingo Visitor Center on the gulf coast. So we missed walking several trails closer to the ocean and did not take the opportunity to rent canoes or kayaks to explore the mangroves along the coast.
Okay, Stephanie is afraid of alligators and crocodiles as much as bears (with sharks being close behind), so renting canoes or kayaks was never an option.
The two other major entrances to Everglades National Park are the Shark Valley Visitor Center (on the north edge of the park off U.S. Highway 41) and the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades City.
Shark Valley was closed for parking lot repairs during our stay in Florida, so it was not an option for us. Here the draw is a 15 mile loop trail, which you can walk, bike, or ride a tram to an observation tower. (As of 2023, bike rentals are $22 each and the tram tour is $29 for adults.)
The Gulf Coast Visitor Center is the best place to go if you want to canoe and kayak through the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mangrove islands. Again, this was a hard no from Stephanie. (As of 2023 the visitor center remains closed from Hurricane Ian damage, but the boat launch remains available.)
Another option to explore the area is via an airboat tour from one of the numerous tour companies operating around Everglades City. These tours are pretty popular, but do not really appeal to either of us. No particular reason, it’s just not our thing.
If we return to Everglades National Park in the future it will be during December, January, February, or March for migrating bird season.
Big Cypress National Preserve is immediately north of Everglades National Park, and shares a similar ecosystem, but without the same level of park amenities. A few boardwalks and scenic drives through the preserve are accessible from U.S. Highway 41, notably H.P. Williams Roadside Park (combine Turner River, Wagon Wheel, and Birdon Roads for a drive), Kirby Storter Roadside Park, and the Loop Road Scenic Drive.
The preserve was recognized as an International Dark Sky Park in 2016, though it is not perfect. The sky is dark, and stars can be seen in abundance, but unfortunately light pollution from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, and Fort Myers is seen on the horizon.
Nevertheless, you can get decent photos here of the Milky Way and night sky:
Big Cypress has quite a few hiking trails running through it, including the southern terminus of the Florida Trail. Be forewarned that many of the trails are muddy, if not underwater, during the wet season.
If we get to the Everglades to see the migrating birds, then we will probably make it a point to hike a few of the trails in Big Cypress as it will be dry season (little mud, few mosquitoes).
Garrett and Stephanie
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