Everglades National Park
The Everglades spans across 1.5 million acres that stretches over the southern part of Florida. There are three main areas. The northern section of the park is accessible via Miami or Everglades City, the southern section is accessible through Homestead. The three entrances are not connected. The Everglades has a “vast diversity of flora and fauna in different eco-systems: freshwater sloughs, marl prairies, tropical hammocks, pineland, cypress, mangrove, coastal lowlands, marine, and estuarine.”
Gulf Coast Visitor Center Phone 239-695-3311 As of November, 2017 the center is closed because of damage from Hurricane Irma. Call to learn current status.
Flamingo Visitor Center Phone 239-695-2945 As of November, 2017 the center is partially closed because of damage from Hurricane Irma. Call to learn current status.
Shark Valley Visitor Center Phone 305-221-8776 As of November, 2017 the center is closed because of flooding from Hurricane Irma. Call to learn current status.
Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center Phone 305-242-7700
Facilities, including trails for mobility-impaired visitors.
Information for sight-impaired visitors.
Anhinga Trail 0.8 mile round trip “…self-guiding trail winds through a sawgrass marsh, where you may see alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons, egrets, and many other birds, especially during the winter. This is one the most popular trails in the park because of its abundance of wildlife.”
Gumbo Limbo Trail 0.4 round trip “… self-guiding, paved trail meanders through a shaded, jungle-like hammock of gumbo limbo trees (Bursera simaruba), royal palms (Roystonea elata), ferns, and air plants.”
Pineland Trail 0.4 mile trail trail “loops through a forest of pines, palmettos, and wildflowers.”
Pahayokee Overlook a 0.16 mile boardwalk loop
Mahogany Hammock Trail 0.5 mile “self-guiding boardwalk trail meanders through a dense, jungle-like hardwook “hammock.” Lush vegetation includes gumbo-limbo trees, air plants, and the largest living mahogany tree (Swietenia mahogani) in the United States.”
West Lake Trail .05 mile “self-guided boardwalk trail wanders through a forest of white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), black mangrove (Avicennia nitida), red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), and buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) trees to the edge of West Lake.”
Bobcat Boardwalk Trail 0.5 mile “self-guided boardwalk trail that meanders through the sawgrass slough and tropical hardwood forests.”