What to do in The Everglades

Activity in The Everglades centres around wildlife spotting, enjoying the scenery, some gentle strolls and wilderness hiking and /or kayaking if you are so minded. Personally I like the kayaking (provided it is a day trip) but can live without the wilderness hiking.

There is some spectacular wildlife. We have seen, alligators galore, fabulous birds, turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, river otters, deer, dolphin, racoon, crocodile and manatee on our various visits. There are also bears and the highly endangered (and extremely elusive) Florida Panther  in the Everglades, but we have not seen either. Suffice to say you will definitely want to take your camera and make sure it has a really big memory card!

If you are a first time visitor to The Everglades the easiest way to orient yourself is to either go to Shark valley and take the naturalist led Tram Tour, or head to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center near the Park’s southerly entrance. Both will give you a good overview of the Park and its unique eco system.

The Park is easy to navigate as the public access is relatively limited – there is the road that starts near Homestead and runs from the Ernest F Coe Visitor Center to Flamingo. This allows access to the eastern Everglades. There are Shark Valley and Big Cypress Bend off the Tamiami Trail and Everglades City just to the South off this road.

A summary table of the activities in the Park is shown below:

What to do in The Everglades