South Florida National Parks

South Florida

January 5-7, 2008

8 stamps, 3 units

-FrankieT

I am hesitant to post an account of a solo trip for fear of sounding self-absorbed, but since there seems to be some relevance for upcoming trips by other members of the group, I will proceed. As I intend this to be helpful for others to plan their trips, I will compose this more as a reference than a narrative.

If you are flying into South Florida, your most obvious points of arrival are either Miami or Ft. Lauderdale airports. In my case, I flew into West Palm Beach International which is about 75 miles north of Miami International and 55 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale. The drive was a bit of a pain, but the airport was small and not crowded (a big plus) and they even had free wireless internet access throughout the terminal. Since I was already in Palm Beach, I drove about 15 miles north and visited the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.

From here, I began my tour of the Everglades. FYI, Everglades National Park has four 'sub-units', Shark Valley, Flamingo, Gulf Coast, and Royal Palm, each of which has a unique stamp and visitor center. There is also a stamp at the main visitor center (Ernest Coe VC) as you enter the park's main entrance. My strategy was to visit the park's 'satellite' sub-units (Shark Valley and Gulf Coast) first. These are both accessible by taking Florida Route 41 (the Tamiami Trail) west from Miami, as is Big Cypress National Preserve.






My first stop was Shark Valley, located on the northern boundary of the park off SR-41. The main attraction is a 15-mile paved road through Shark Valley Slough, the famous "river of grass". You can walk, rent a bike, or take the narrated tram ($15). There are also two walking trails (Bobcat Boardwalk and Otter Cave) close to the visitor center. From my experience, this was the best place to see alligators up close (they were literally laying in the middle of the trails at times).

As I continued west on SR-41, I stopped approximately midway in Big Cypress National Preserve. The main attraction here is the Florida National Scenic Trail. This stretches ~28 miles north through the preserve, but you can hike shorter sections if you want. Alternately, there is a short boardwalk trail at the VC and a scenic road (accessible from the east at Fortymile Bend on SR-41) that leads to Tree Snail Hammock Trail. There is also free camping at several sites near here (Burns Lake, Mitchell Landing, and Pinecrest). Big Cypress also has free canoe tours (canoe and equipment included) and several guided hikes.

The Gulf Coast subunit is located on the western boundary of the park, just off SR-41. There are no hiking trails here, only water activities. The 10000 Islands cruise is a little steep ($26; the only activity I paid for on this trip) but I found it very worthwhile. As I arrived here at 4 pm on Saturday, I had no choice but to sign up for the last cruise of the day (4:30 pm). This turned out to be opportune as the captain took us out to the Gulf to watch an amazing sunset. On the way out, we cruised through mangrove islands and manatee habitat (didn't see any, though). Once we reached the Gulf, the captain spotted several pods of dolphins and circled around them hoping to coax them to play in our wake. Sure enough, the dolphins went crazy and played alongside the boat and in the wake for about 20 minutes (George would have been nauseated by this unabashed display of cute dolphin behavior). The captain's name was Paul and he came highly recommended by everybody I talked to in the ranger station. Turns out he was absolutely hilarious and seemed very knowledgeable.

The only way to get back to the main section of the Everglades on the east is to retrace your steps across SR-41. This is a long drive and is, IMO, best done at night when you have nothing else to do. There is a large visitor center at the main entrance to the park with a film and exhibits. Sign up for your free Bike Hike here (bike and official Everglades water bottle provided; you must reserve in person; if you can choose, try to get Kirk and not Rudy). From here, there is a 38-mile road going west to Flamingo, with numerous potential stops along the way. A little less than 5 miles down the road, there is a turnoff for Royal Palm. There is a stamp at the bookstore and two short trails here (the Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trail). If possible, show up for the Starlight Hike at 7:30 pm on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays (same applies; ask whether Kirk or Rudy are hosting the hike). We saw owls, night herons and an alligator feeding frenzy on this hike.

All of the trails in the park are right off the road and relatively short. I did all but two (Coastal Prairie and Bear Lake) and these were closed because of hurricane damage and training, respectively. I recommend Mahogany Hammock, Pa-Hay-Okee, Pinelands and West Lake to get a good glimpse of hardwood hammock, cypress dome, slash pine forest, and mangrove habitats, respectively. If you do the Bike Hike through Long Pine Key, then you can probably eliminate the Pinelands trail if you are pressed for time. I do not recommend Snake Bight or Rowdy Bend trails. Not only are they not particularly impressive, but the mosquitoes are unbearable on these trails. As you drive toward Flamingo, I recommend stopping at Mrazek Pond if you have even a remote interest in birds. The assemblage of wading birds is world famous and it is right off the road. Eco Pond and Coot Lake are also right off the road and worth stopping at.

The Flamingo VC offers a boat tour similar to the one at Gulf Coast (same price, I believe). They also offer a free guided canoe trip, for which you can reserve by phone (239- 695-2945). Make sure and ask if the trip will be on 9-mile Pond (most of them are, apparently). If you go on 9-Mile Pond, there is a resident crocodile (relatively rare) and river otters, both of which we saw up close on our trip.

If you are camping, there are two sites in the Everglades, Long Pine Key near Royal Palm and the Flamingo campground, both of which are $16/nt. I camped at both, and Flamingo was more scenic but the scenery was offset by an abundance of mosquitoes.

Finally, Biscayne National Park is located 20 miles due east of the Everglades' main entrance. The only thing to do on land is a short nature walk at the visitor center. Everything else involves a boat. They have glass-bottom boat tours, snorkeling tours and island tours. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend one over the other because all I had time for was the nature walk.

In conclusion, it is possible to do justice to the Everglades in two days. Big Cypress and Biscayne, not so much. Although I absolutely loved it and hope to go back many times, I can honestly say that I feel that I have completely earned this unit already. Hope this helps everyone in their planning.