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Everglades Pay-Hay-Okee

Everglades National Park

In its 1.5 million acres sweeping across South Florida, Everglades National Park offers outdoor experiences ranging from accessible boardwalks and paved trails to rugged adventures in harsh wilderness.

South Florida      ( 25.421886, -80.780548 )      

“There are no other Everglades in the world.” So began River of Grass, the 1947 classic by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas that helped to call attention to the need to protect this vast and unique ecosystem.

Dedicated on December 6, 1947, by President Harry S Truman, Everglades National Park was the culmination of decades worth of effort to preserve and protect the uniqueness of South Florida.

Visionaries like Ernest Coe, David Fairchild, John Pennekamp, and Ms. Douglas led the charge.

Within the 2,358 square miles of Everglades National Park, the park boundaries protect the largest sawgrass prairie in North America.

It also encompasses the largest mangrove forest in the Western hemisphere and dozens of intriguing and rare habitats such as tree islands and pine rocklands.

Landscapes are majestic here, with sweeping panoramas of marsh and cypress.

Lily dotted swamp with prairie to the horizon beyond
Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

50 Hikes in South Florida book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover The Hiking Trails of Floridas National Forests Parks Preserves book cover Paddlers Guide Florida

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 Map

Locations of trails within Everglades National Park


About the Park

There are four separate entrances to Everglades National Park, the most well-known of which is the Main Park Road at Homestead.

Main Park Road leads to most of the park’s hiking trails and the developed campgrounds that are best visited in winter.

Shark Valley, along US 41 (Tamiami Trail) west of Miami is also a popular destination with a paved biking/tram loop and nature trails.

The Gulf Coast Visitor Center and Flamingo Visitor Centers anchor the two far-flung outposts of the 99-mile Wilderness Waterway, one of the wildest paddling trips in America.

Chekika Day Use Area near Kendall is the least-used entrance since it may only be visited by permit.


Fees

As of August 2023, the fee to enter Everglades National Park is $30 per private vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per pedestrian or cyclist.

Your receipt is good for 7 consecutive days from purchase. If you live nearby, it makes sense to get a National Parks pass. All camping reservations are handled by Recreation.gov


Visitor Centers

Ernest Coe Visitor Center, 40001 SR 9336, Homestead
Flamingo Visitor Center, near the end of Main Park Road, Flamingo
Shark Valley Visitor Center, 36000 SW 8th St, Miami (along US 41)
Gulf Coast Visitor Center, 815 Oyster Bar Lane, Everglades City


Hiking

Most of the hiking trails in the Everglades are short and tame, letting you sample these wild habitats and see their delicate inhabitants, like the liguus tree snails, with ease.

The Coastal Prairie Trail is open to backpackers. A second backpacking route, the Old Ingraham Highway at Royal Palm Hammock, has officially been permanently closed.


Main Park Road

Royal Palm Hammock

Boardwalk into a swamp Anhinga Trail For most visitors, the Anhinga Trail is their first glimpse into Everglades National Park. It's short, and the alligators are right there: hard to miss
Lush tropical forest next to a paved path Gumbo Limbo Trail At Royal Palm Hammock in Everglades National Park, the Gumbo Limbo Trail is a gentle paved path that gets you up close and personal with a tropical hammock and its oolite holes.

Long Pine Key

Boardwalk to tree island Mahogany Hammock Trail Mahogany Hammock is a tree island, a tropical oasis in the Everglades “river of grass,” where the short boardwalk trail immerses you in the jungle-like hammock.
Panorama of Everglades habitats Pa-Hay-Okee Boardwalk For a sweeping panorama of the "River of Grass" from a personal perspective, get out of your car and walk the short Pa-Hay-Okee Boardwalk at Everglades National Park.
Pine forest on Long Pine Key Pinelands Ecotone Unnamed, un-blazed, and wild, on an old jeep road, the Pinelands Ecotone is an extraordinary hike between two rare habitats – pine rocklands and sawgrass prairies.
Man walking on paved path in tropical forest Pinelands Trail The Pinelands Trail is a showcase for South Florida’s weird and wonderful karst, a limestone bedrock that’s full of Swiss-cheese like holes, in a tropical forest where colorful tree snails make their home.

Flamingo

Florida Bay sunset Bayshore Loop A walk through the mangrove-lined edge of Florida Bay and the unique coastal prairie habitat of the Everglades, the Bayshore Loop explores the site of the former fishing village of Flamingo.
Mangrove-lined lake Bear Lake Trail Everglades Paralleling the former Homestead Canal, the Bear Lake Trail takes you on a journey through tropical hammock and mangrove forests along a road scooped from the canal diggings.
Trail through mangroves Christian Point Trail The Christian Point Trail is one of the more challenging trails in Everglades National Park, leading you deep into the mangrove forest along Florida Bay.
Extensive prairie of salt loving plants Coastal Prairie Trail Ready for a wilderness challenge? On the Coastal Prairie Trail, battle mosquitoes, unrelenting sun, and deep and sticky marl mud to camp at remote Clubhouse Beach.
Marl muck edged pond Eco Pond One of the easiest destinations for birding in Everglades National Park, Eco Pond sits near the end of Main Park Road in Flamingo, with a half mile trail around it.
Scenic waterfront in the Everglades Guy Bradley Trail Named in honor of the first game warden in Everglades, who gave his life protecting the birds, this paved walk offers excellent views of Florida Bay and insight into why Everglades National Park now exists.
Mud flats edged by mangroves Snake Bight / Rowdy Bend The Snake Bight Trail in Everglades National Park leads you a wild place where tropical forests meet the mangrove shorelines of Florida Bay, where crocodiles cruise the saline shallows and mosquitoes thicken the air.
Boardwalk in a mangrove forest West Lake Mangrove Trail At West Lake, the Mangrove Trail loops through a shady tunnel, showcasing the protector of Florida’s coastline, the mighty mangrove, along the shores of a brackish lake.

Shark Valley

Long boardwalk across marsh Bobcat Boardwalk The 0.3-mile Bobcat Boardwalk at Shark Valley is a popular destination in winter and spring to see migratory and nesting birds.
Young alligator perched on solution hole Otter Cave Hammock Trail Complementing Shark Valley’s loop trail and Bobcat Boardwalk, the Otter Cave Trail gets you out into the Everglades at a walking pace, where you’ll see more wildlife.

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Park Maps Reserve Campsite Official Website


NEARBY: Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades City, Homestead, Miami | ALONG: Florida Bay, Gulf of Mexico | PART OF: South Florida

Category: Camping, Destinations, National Parks, Nature Centers, South Florida, Southeast Florida, Southwest FloridaTag: Alligators, Best Birding, Birding, Car Camping, Developed Camping, Homestead, Locations, Miami, National Parks, Primitive Camping

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Boardwalk through a cypress swamp

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Footpath in a sand pine scrub forest

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Trail in deep shade of sea grapes

JILONA South Trail

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Sand pine scrub with a bark chip path

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