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Levee in Big Cypress Swamp

CREW Bird Rookery Swamp

Rich with wildlife, CREW Bird Rookery Swamp near Naples provides up to 12 miles of hiking/biking in Big Cypress habitats on tramways through a primordial swamp

Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed  |  Naples
( 26.312005, -81.633544 )      4.5 miles

396 shares

CREW Bird Rookery Swamp provides a place for hikers to immerse themselves in the Big Cypress Swamp without getting their feet wet.

It is part of the vast Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW), more than 50,000 acres of hydrologic protection for Corkscrew Strand and the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Just at the trailhead expect abundant wildlife in the surrounding waterways, from ibis and wood storks to green herons and the ubiquitous alligators.

trailhead at CREW Bird Rookery Trailhead at CREW Bird Rookery


Most visitors will be satisfied exploring the access trail to the loop, a 4.5-mile round-trip, which we describe here.

With 12 miles of trail to explore, the tramway system into the swamp is open to both hikers and cyclists, and is a favorite for trail runners.

A new addition is the 3.1 mile (linear) Purple Trail linking the loop on this property to Flint Pen Strand to the northwest. See the map below.

CREW Bird Rookery Mileage Chart Mileage chart for the CREW Bird Rookery Trail


Resources

South Florida Explorers Guide book cover

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.


Overview

Location: Naples
Length: Up to 12 miles
Trailhead: 26.312005,-81.633544
Address: 1295 Shady Hollow Boulevard, Naples
Fees: Free, donations appreciated
Restroom: Portable toilet at trailhead
Land manager: CREW Land and Water Trust
Phone: 239-657-2253

Do not bring dogs to this trail. Young children should be closely watched. You are only inches above the swamp on the tramway.

Alligators sun themselves on the footpath. Keep at least 20 feet from any you see.

CREW Bird Rookery Swamp
CREW Bird Rookery Swamp

The trail may close whenever it is flooded. It will be posted at the trailhead if you can’t go any farther than the end of the boardwalk.

Vultures have caused damage to cars at the trailhead by pecking at rubber goods.

CREW says “hanging plastic shopping bags from the top of your door frames or covering your car with a tarp secured with bungee straps may deter them.”

While the underlying swamp is protected as public land by Southwest Florida Water Management District, volunteers from CREW Land & Water Trust maintain the trails.

They are always looking for new members and volunteer support from people who live in the region. Learn more here.


Directions

 
From Interstate 75 exit 111, Immokalee Rd (CR 846), drive east for 11.4 miles. After the curve, you pass the stoplight for Oil Well Rd (CR 858).
 
When you reach Shady Hollow Blvd, turn left. Follow the road for 1.5 miles to the trailhead parking on the right.

Hike

Follow the causeway east from the parking area towards a boardwalk that leads to the tramway system. This first portion of the trail (half mile round-trip) is accessible.

CREW Bird Rookery accessible causeway Both the causeway and boardwalk are accessible


Winding through young cypresses and floodplain forest, the boardwalk provides an up-close view of summer blooms where butterflies rest. In fall, red maples sport crimson leaves.

CREW Bird Rookery boardwalk CREW Bird Rookery boardwalk


As the boardwalk ends, pass two benches. The wooden walkway makes a hard right and deposits you onto a grassy tramway.

Tiger swallowtail In summer, look for butterflies in the cypress trees


Established more than a century ago for timber companies to remove ancient cypresses for lumber, this tramway and the others connected to it supported a narrow gauge railway system.

In the 1960s, surveyors used the tramways to go deep into the swamps to plot out what would become the first subdivisions in the Big Cypress. Now there are many.

All of those houses occupy places that were once seasonally under water. That’s why this trail sometimes closes in the wetter months as the rainfall has few other places to go.

Beyond the boardwalk is an alligator slide, where alligators regularly cross from one deep pool of water to another. A bench is nearby.

Alligator on hiking trail
Alligator occupying the tramway. Do not approach within 20 feet.

On the tramway, the trail is a long corridor of green grass through the middle of the swamp, where dense ferns make up the understory under the cypress trees.

Passing a bench under a large cypress tree, note how the habitat shifts to floodplain forest, heavy with red maple.

Alligator flag dominates the deeper water. Giant sword fern and royal ferns create their own little islands in the swamp.

Alligator Where there is alligator flag, there is often alligators. It marks the deeper water they prefer.


About a mile in is an interpretive display with railroad ties from the logging days, between 1915 and 1957.

CREW railroad exhibit Cypress railroad ties anchor this interpretive stop


The trail continues as a broad straightaway through the floodplain forest before it emerges to where the landscape opens up on the right.

The sparkling waters are Saddlebrook Lake, edged by homes on the far shore. On this shore, the marsh presses in more closely to the trail.

Big Cypress Swamp The wild textures of the Big Cypress Swamp


There are a lot of damp spots underfoot as you come up to the property boundary as the tramway is not far above water level.

At the fence, there is a bench and a sign with GPS coordinates on a map to let you know where you are.

Saddlebrook Lake The trail turns at this corner at Saddlebrook Lake


The sign explains each leg of the trail system, providing mileages, so you can decide how far to go – up to 12 miles for the entire route.

The trail makes a sharp left and follows the fence east. Pass a “Service Road” sign to the left at 1.5 miles.

alligator flag Alligator flag


“Road Closed” and “Service Road” signs appear with greater frequency, mainly to discourage you from following unmarked, unmaintained logging spurs off the main trail. All are dead ends.

Water lettuce Water lettuce covers a small pond


Past one spur is a pond covered in water lettuce. Soon after, the tramway broadens and is flanked by a pop-ash swamp and a floodplain forest.

pop-ash swamp The pop-ash swamp has unusual textures and shapes in winter


Pause for a break at a picnic table. A few minutes later you come to the junction for the big loop through the heart of the preserve.

CREW Bird Rookery Loop junction CREW Bird Rookery Loop junction


At 2.3 miles, this junction is a Y where trains would have taken one side or the other. Marker 3 is at this junction.

This is your decision point. It is 7.5 miles around the loop, with no shortcuts. Once you are on the loop you are committed to it.

water spangles Water spangles – an aquatic fern – creates an odd texture on the swamp surface


You can opt to walk it all, walk out and back on a portion of it, or turn around here, as we did, to return the way you came to the trailhead.

On the way back from Marker 3 to the trailhead, notice how canals parallel the tramways most of the time. This is a swamp, so the dirt you’re walking on had to come out of it.

canal in swamp Dirt dug out of the swamp to make the tramway created these canals


Listen closely. Despite the human intrusion of tramways, wildlife is plopping, swimming, skittering, and flapping everywhere.

young alligator A young alligator beside the trail


On the return there are numerous signs with a parking symbol and arrow to encourage people to walk the correct way back to the trailhead.

The opposite direction takes you deeper into the swamp, not a place where you want to spend the night. It’s home to the Florida panther, the Florida black bear, and thousands of alligators.

CREW Bird Rookery Trail While it looks tame, the Big Cypress Swamp surrounds you


It may not feel like it on this grassy ribbon of trail, but Bird Rookery Swamp is a truly wild place, slowly healing itself from the scars of logging that ended less than 60 years ago.

alligator Alligators are common where there is open water adjoining the trail


Returning to the corner of the fence line, pass more signs and the open waters of Saddleback Lake before the final long stretch of straightaway.

CREW Bird Rookery Trail The last stretch is deeply shaded up to the boardwalk


Reaching the boardwalk after 4 miles. After crossing the boardwalk, walk the short 0.2-mile loop to the right.

Pond at CREW Pond along the short loop


It provides a different perspective on the swamp. It’s here we spotted baby alligators and colorful green and tricolor herons.

young alligator Young alligator not far from the causeway


The loop ends by depositing you on the causeway that leads straight back to the parking area to complete a 4.5-mile hike.

red-shouldered hawk A red-shouldered hawk watches the front pond



Trail Map

CREW Bird Rookery Trail Map
Green: Bird Rookery Swamp Trail. Purple: Purple Trail to Flint Pen Strand and its trail system.

Explore More!

More trails in the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed

Red blaze post amid pines

CREW Flint Pen Strand

Just four miles east of Interstate 75, get your feet wet in one corner of the vast the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed on the trails of Flint Pen Strand.

boardwalk to big cypresses in Corkscrew

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Weaving beneath a canopy knit by old-growth cypress trees in a majestic swamp forest, the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of Florida’s best hikes

Blaze post on prairie trail

CREW Marsh Trails

At CREW Marsh, a network of well-marked paths crisscrosses the northwestern tip of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, providing loops of up to 3.1 miles along a vast marsh.

Cypress dome

CREW Cypress Dome Trails

On this 4.4 mile loop, experience an impressive array of habitats in Florida panther habitat – from sandy flatwoods to flooded cypress swamps – in the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed.

Slideshow

See our photos along the Crew Bird Rookery Trail


Nearby Adventures

More worth exploring while you’re in this area.

Florida Panther NWR

Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge

The longer of two loops at Florida Panther NWR guarantees a wet walk through panther habitat of wet pine flatwoods and cypress domes

Fakahatchee Strand State Park

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

It’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida’s largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.

Mangroves up close

Rookery Bay NERR

Protecting vast mangrove forests and coastal habitats between Naples and Ten Thousand Islands NWR, Rookery Bay NERR encompasses a mind-boggling 110,000 acres.

Barefoot Beach

Barefoot Beach Preserve

In a hidden corner of Collier County, Barefoot Beach Preserve provides immersion in nature at a beauty spot along two miles of natural shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico just north of Wiggins Pass.


Trail Map (PDF) Official Website

Category: Biking, Day Hikes, Hikes, Land Trusts, Southwest Florida, Trails, Water Management AreasTag: Alligators, Big Cypress Swamp, Birding, Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, Immokalee, Naples, Scenic Hikes, Wildlife Viewing

Have an update? Contact us.

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