Updated for 2024: If you have one day or its your first visit to the Everglades, this guide will help you see wildlife and experience the essence of Everglades National Park. We offer tips, too, for more in-depth Everglades experiences.
Everglades
Eco-pond, across from the campground in Flamingo in Everglades National Park is full of birds in winter. Here, American avocets rest below a roseate spoonbill. (Photo: David Blasco)
Getaways to the Everglades
Getaways to outdoor recreation in Florida’s Everglades, hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, RV and tent camping, swamp walks, lodging, unique restaurants, road trips and Funky Florida.
Stone crab season starts Oct. 15 and Everglades City, a small, isolated fishing village south of Naples, is a place to feast on this Florida favorite in an authenic Old Florida atmosphere.
Big Cypress National Preserve offers excellent Everglades experiences. It’s adjacent to the famous national park, is free and has spectacular scenery. It’s celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024.
Loop Road is famous for being a wild place. (That once applied to the people as well as the animals.) It’s a gravel road off the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades. If you’re not in a hurry, it’s a rewarding place to explore.
The Tamiami Trail, linking Miami and Florida’s west coast, gets you close to alligators, cypress swamps and Everglades scenery. It also offers outstanding stops along the way, particularly the Shark Valley area of Everglades National Park.
One of the best ways to see Florida’s Everglades is via the Tamiami Trail to the Shark Valley entrance, home to a terrific bike trail and abundant wildlife. Visitors have been reporting outstanding wildlife viewing during holiday visits.
Everglades City is at the end of the road in a remote wild, spot. Here you can explore the Everglades, learn fascinating history and feast on stone crabs during the season from Oct. 15 to May 1.
The impact of Seminole Indians is everywhere in Florida, but this is THE place to learn about them. This interesting museum in the Everglades is worth the drive. Here are six takeaways from our visit.
A review: Flamingo Lodge has opened, and lives up to its magnificent location on Florida Bay in Everglades National Park. Many visitors will now explore this end-of-the-road spot.
Flamingo is a long way from the entrance to Everglades National Park, but we love it for the wildlife — manatees, crocodiles and an osprey nest right in the marina. In 2024, with the addition of an excellent visitor center and a new lodge, there are more reasons to go to Flamingo.