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Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk

Naples

Naples is the western gateway to the wilds of South Florida, a tropical getaway on the Gulf

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Contents

  • 1 Resources
  • 2 Exploring Naples
    • 2.1 Naples Botanical Garden
    • 2.2 Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens
    • 2.3 Collier-Seminole State Park
    • 2.4 Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park
    • 2.5 Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
    • 2.6 Rookery Bay NERR
    • 2.7 Ten Thousand Islands
    • 2.8 Everglades National Park
    • 2.9 Big Cypress National Preserve
    • 2.10 Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
    • 2.11 Florida Trail, Big Cypress
  • 3 Featured Trails and Parks near Naples
    • 3.1 Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail
    • 3.2 Delnor-Wiggins Nature Trail
    • 3.3 Florida Trail, Seminole
    • 3.4 CREW Flint Pen Strand
    • 3.5 Florida Trail, Big Cypress South
    • 3.6 Sabal Palm Trail
    • 3.7 Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
    • 3.8 Roberts Lake Trail
    • 3.9 Florida Trail, Big Cypress North
  • 4 Articles
    • 4.1 Crossing Big Cypress
    • 4.2 Florida’s Utopia
    • 4.3 Adding to the Life List
    • 4.4 Stranding Steves at Fakahatchee
  • 5 Where to Stay in Naples

Resources

Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover 50 Hikes in South Florida book cover Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

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


Exploring Naples

From shell-strewn beaches to upscale art galleries, haunting cypress strands, and the most tangled maze of mangrove-lined waterways in America, Naples is undeniably a majestic tropical destination.

Founded in 1887, it was shaped by millionaire developers from the start, including Barron Collier, who pushed the Tamiami Trail to completion.

Tropical gardens are a special delight, the earliest cultivated by caladium grower Henry Nehrling at what is now Caribbean Gardens, a former tourist attraction turned local zoo.

Naples Botanical Garden

At Naples Botanical Garden, buildings, landscaping, and nature live in harmony, with a delicate balance of natural spaces and lush gardens accented with art achieved.

Lush tropical landscape at Caribbean Gardens

Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens

First established in 1919 by botanist Henry Nehrling as a caladium farm, Caribbean Gardens grew into a major tourist attraction for tropical trees and plants, and is now the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens.

Within the city are extensive parks, greenways, wave-washed natural shores, and waterways to explore. Several state parks offer unique perspectives on natural habitats.

Collier Memorial at Collier-Seminole State Park

Collier-Seminole State Park

Collier-Seminole State Park
Bench overlooking beach and tropical scene

Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park

Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park
Fakahatchee Strand State Park

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Nearby via US 41 are Rookery Bay NERR, the Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades National Park, and the many parks and preserves protecting much of the Big Cypress Swamp.

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.

Ten Thousand Islands mangrove atoll

Ten Thousand Islands

Where the waters of Big Cypress and the Everglades meet the Gulf Coast, the Ten Thousand Islands are a maze of mangrove forest: the second largest mangrove forest in the world, bested only by Bangladesh

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

Big Cypress orchid

Big Cypress National Preserve

Protecting nearly three quarters of the million-acre Big Cypress Swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve is Florida’s largest and most remote wilderness.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary remains one of Florida’s best destinations for birding, part of the larger Corkscrew Strand within Big Cypress.

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

The Florida Trail’s southernmost and most challenging 30 miles sits an hour east of downtown at Big Cypress National Preserve, with little but wild spaces along two-thirds of the drive to it.

Florida Trail Big Cypress

Florida Trail, Big Cypress

38.3 miles. Featuring the wettest, wildest wilderness traversed by backpackers in Florida, the Florida Trail in Big Cypress National Preserve is both beautiful and extraordinarily challenging.


Featured Trails and Parks near Naples

Collier Seminole Hiking Trail

Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail

Collier-Seminole Hiking Trail
Bridge between sea grapes from beach

Delnor-Wiggins Nature Trail

Delnor-Wiggins Nature Trail
Florida Trail along a canal south of Clewiston

Florida Trail, Seminole

Florida Trail, Seminole
Red blaze post amid pines

CREW Flint Pen Strand

CREW Flint Pen Strand
Big Cypress Swamp

Florida Trail, Big Cypress South

Florida Trail, Big Cypress South
Sabal Palm Trail

Sabal Palm Trail

Sabal Palm Trail
Flag pond surrounded by alligator flag

Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk

Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
Young cypresses in dense swamp

Roberts Lake Trail

Roberts Lake Trail
Nobles Grade, Big Cypress National Preserve

Florida Trail, Big Cypress North

Florida Trail, Big Cypress North
 
More Trails More Parks


Articles

Florida Trail, Big Cypress

Crossing Big Cypress

February 4, 2019//  by Sandra Friend

It’s Florida’s roughest, wettest, weirdest backpacking trip, best tackled with friends. Along this 30 mile stretch of the Florida Trail in the heart of Big Cypress National Preserve, immersing in the swamp is the point of the hike. Sandra tackled it as the final stretch of her multi-year 1,110-mile section hike of the Florida Trail, end-to-end.

The Planetary Court at Koreshan State Park

Florida’s Utopia

December 9, 2018//  by John Keatley

At the Koreshan Unity in Estero, Florida, a group of believers gathered in 1894 to build their paradise. It is now a National Historic Site and a Florida State Park. Walk the trails and streets of “New Jerusalem” to learn its story.

John photographs a liguus tree snail in Everglades National Park

Adding to the Life List

July 21, 2015//  by John Keatley

Although John is a native Floridian, our research trip to South Florida became an opportunity for him to see many natural “firsts” in Florida that most people have on their life lists.

Enormous strap fern

Stranding Steves at Fakahatchee

July 14, 2015//  by Sandra Friend

Exploring Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park for a chapter of a new book we’re writing, a pair of park rangers named Steve guide us to the park’s beauty spots


Where to Stay in Naples

Naples is known for its luxurious resorts. But you can also enjoy comfy lodgings within the walkable downtown like The Inn on Fifth and the Trianon Old Naples.

For a romantic getaway, try the Lemon Tree Inn, a boutique hotel with an Old Florida vibe, or the Marco Island Lakeside Inn, the quiet choice on the island. The Mariner is a great choice for families with its large suites.

Excepting Rock Creek RV Resort, an adult RV park, camping is primarily out in the wild spaces along the Tamiami Trail heading east, with Trail Lakes Campground in Ochopee, and seasonal campgrounds in Big Cypress National Preserve.

If you prefer a room while swamp tromping, the Ivey House in Everglades City is a great base camp for adventure.



NEARBY: Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, Estero, Everglades City, Fort Myers. Immokalee, Marco Island. | PART OF: Southwest Florida

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