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Alligators Paynes Prairie

Where to see alligators in Florida

Where can you see alligators in Florida? In nearly every body of water.

There are some places, however, where you will see many more than others. Here’s our list of “highly likely” places to spot an alligator while you’re wandering the trails.

Alligators Everywhere

La Chua gators

April 6, 2018    Sandra Friend

In spring, alligators become more active as the days warm up. It’s also mating season, so alligators are on the move. Expect to see them anywhere and everywhere along Florida’s trails.

Anhinga Trail

Great egret flying over a lily-dotted swamp

Everglades National Park  |  Royal Palm Hammock
( 25.381913, -80.609572 )      0.8 miles

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

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Summer storm on the marshes at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Boynton Beach      ( 26.498420, -80.212604 )      

At the edge of Boynton Beach, where historic farmlands have given way to subdivisions, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a 145,000 acre buffer between suburbia and the Everglades

Biking Tosohatchee

Parking Area 32

April 5, 2018    John Keatley

A 20.2-mile circuit on forest roads by bike provides a unique perspective on this 31,000-acre preserve along the St. Johns River floodplain in Christmas.

Billie Swamp Safari

Billie Swamp Safari

Big Cypress      ( 26.322398,-81.052849 )      

With airboat and swamp buggy rides as well as interpretation of native species, Billie Swamp Safari is an attraction providing immersion into the Big Cypress Swamp, ancestral home of the Seminole Tribe since the 1800s..

Black Point Wildlife Drive

Cars parked along a mangrove marsh

Merritt Island NWR  |  Titusville
( 28.657507, -80.754484 )      7.0 miles

Winding along a narrow dirt road, Black Point Wildlife Drive offers from-your-car birding in the marshes and mud flats of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Circle B Bar Reserve

Wetlands at Circle B Bar Reserve

Lakeland      ( 27.989618,-81.857654 )      3.5 miles

For fabulous birding and more alligators than you can count, roam the marshy edge of Lake Hancock on miles of causeways through Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland

CREW Bird Rookery Swamp

Levee in Big Cypress Swamp

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

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

Everglades National Park

Everglades Pay-Hay-Okee

South Florida      ( 25.421886, -80.780548 )      

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

Gator growl at La Chua

Whitewater, with alligators

April 25, 2009    Sandra Friend

In the heart of Gator Country, a deep sinkhole swallows the waters of Paynes Prairie at its northeastern rim in Gainesville: La Chua Sink. A brand new boardwalk now provides a closer look.

Gatorama

Gatorama

Palmdale      ( 26.917172,-81.290718 )      

Started in 1957 as a roadside attraction to show tourists one of the two Florida experiences they wanted – alligators! – Gatorama still has that funky Old Florida feel.

Gatorland

Gatorland Jumparoo Pond

Orlando      ( 28.355165,-81.40424 )      

Gatorland is not just a historic Florida attraction but an immersion into what this part of Central Florida used to be, a cypress swamp full of critters.

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