Is Everglades National Park Open Again

Sawgrass, cypress hammocks, sloshing swamps, and waxy mangroves— that's the patchwork of Everglades National Park. It all rolls out for as far as the centre tin can see, capping the southern tip of the Sunshine State with what's at present the largest protected wilderness e of the Mississippi River. What the Everglades lack in soaring mountain summits, they more than than make upwardly for in biodiversity, boardwalk hikes and birdsong. Everything from turtle-spotting safaris to scuba dives in Biscayne Bay is on the menu at this unique national park – simply watch out for the gators!

Everglades National Park was designated dorsum in 1947. The preserve was intended to protect the last remaining swathes of Florida'southward dandy southern wetlands. These were lands once roamed by Seminole Indians and saber-toothed cats, merely suddenly endangered by human inroad and industrialization. Today, the ecosystem ranges from the finish of the Kissimmee River to the keys of Florida Bay, and is a UNESCO biosphere visited by an estimated ane million people each year.

Where is Everglades National Park?

Everglades National Park occupies the southern tip of Florida. You'll need to get beyond the rattling rollercoasters of Orlando and the coral-colored beaches of Clearwater, further down to where the Sunshine Country slips into the Gulf of Mexico. That's where you'll find the 1.5 million acres of reserve, wedged between Miami (Everglades after party, anyone?) in the east and chic Naples in the due west.

Everglades National Park Facts

You might have heard Everglades National Park existence referred to every bit the River of Grass. It's a nickname that was given to the region in the 1940s and highlights just how vast the plains of sawgrass prairie within the preserve really are— in fact, they are the largest of their kind in all of North America! And there are more superlatives than that: the Everglades have the largest stretches of mangrove on the continent, they reign every bit ane of the largest wetlands in the whole world, and they are the only identify where American gators and crocs share a habitat.

Best Time to Visit Everglades National Park

There's really one main rule when it comes to choosing when you'll hit the Everglades: dodge the insects. Well, that and the hurricanes! Generally speaking, bugs and big Atlantic weather condition systems come with the Florida moisture season. That runs in line with the summertime and the start of Autumn. And so, you'll come across most people planning a tropical safari to this United states national park in the winter. Not only is it warm and dry, simply receding water levels reveal sawgrass plains and bring impressive migratory birds in from the n.

Everglades National Park Hours

The park itself is always open. No thing the flavor, no matter the weather, yous should find that in that location's always access to the vine-strewn cypress hammocks and sawgrass plains. Y'all should be aware that the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Heart, located in Homestead on the eastern fringes of the park, is but open from 9am to 5pm in the wet season, and from 8am to 5pm in the dry flavor. Everglades National Park is currently under express operations due to COVID-19. Some facilities may not be available and staffing may be limited.

Everglades National Park Entrance Fee

You won't have to fork out too much to go your glimpse of primordial alligators and elegant snow geese. It's merely $40 for a full year's Everglades National Park laissez passer. Alternatively, you can purchase week-long passes for $20 per vehicle, $15 for a bike, and $viii for an individual on foot. The Everglades also run an e-ticket system, so you can shop the whole shebang on a smartphone – you know, where the crocs can't chew them!

Directions to Everglades National Park

Ten Thousand Islands, — Everglades National Park, Florida, U.s..

This might exist one of the biggest wildernesses in the The states, simply it's actually pretty piece of cake to accomplish. For starters, there are countless major airports in the vicinity. To the due east is Miami International, with long-haul and short-booty links going all around the state. From the terminals there, it's about 50 minutes in the car to the eastern gate in Homestead. Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Drome also isn't far – wait around an hour'south drive from concluding to cypress trees.

Drivers tin brand utilize of the main I-75 or I-95 highways that cutting through Florida. Both will accept y'all to Miami, which is right on the doorstep of the park. Highway 41 is worth knowing, also, considering information technology cuts betwixt the Everglades park and the beautiful Big Cypress National Preserve a little to the northward.

Everglades National Park Lodging

Everglades National Park Camping:

Planning a night under the stars? Hither are some of the best campgrounds and campsites inside and outside of Everglades National Park:

Long Pino Key Campground
Flamingo Campground
Due north River Chickee (backcountry)
Clubhouse Beach (backcountry)
Pavilion Key (backcountry)

Hotels Near Everglades National Park

If camping isn't your thing, there are plenty of resorts, hotels, hostels, inns, cabins and B&Bs within a quick drive of Everglades National Park. Here are some of our favorites:

Ranch il Sole
Gilbert's Resort
Fairway Inn Florida Urban center Homestead Everglades
Gateway to the Keys
Everglades Urban center Cabin

Everglades National Park Airbnb

It'due south incommunicable to score an Airbnb inside the boundaries of the Everglades National Park. After all, y'all can hardly build condos smack bang in the center of an alligator-infested swamp, correct? Your best bet is to focus on the areas just outside the eastern boundaries. We're talking the outskirts of Miami, towns similar Homestead, and suburbs like Kendall. They have loads of Florida-style apartments, and fifty-fifty a few with pools thrown in for skilful measure. On the west side of the Cypress Reserve, a tad farther from the Everglades, is Marco Island. Yous tin go there to discover body of water-view condos gazing over the quartz sand of the gulf declension.

Everglades National Park Tours

If there's one sort of tour that the Everglades National Park is known for, it's got to be those adrenaline-pumping airboats! These whizzing vessels can accept yous on a high-octane trip through the sawgrass swamps to spot gators and stalking waterfowl. Less heart-thumping are the mean solar day-long kayak safaris and the birding trails, which make use of the miles of boardwalk paths that weave throughout the reserve. Lovers of marine animals might prefer to stick to the coast, where boat tours can assistance y'all spot dolphins and manatees and more in the glistening waters of the Mexican Gulf.

Everglades Landmarks

Shark Valley Observation Belfry

Shark Valley Observation Tower, Miami — Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida, US.

Shark Valley is a natural cut-out of the Everglades National Park that counts some of the most iconic stretches of sawgrass prairie in the region. It'southward a favorite terminate on many an Everglades tour, mainly for the soaring Shark Valley Observation Tower that offers sweeping panoramas of the grasses and the swamps all around. It's also a birding haven. Just keep the photographic camera at the ready for any passing spoonbills and storks!

Ernest Coe Visitor Eye

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, Homestead — Everglades National Park Visitor Eye, Florida, US.

Every trip to the Everglades National Park should start at the fun and informative Everglades National Park Visitor Middle. Information technology sits in Homestead nigh the eastern gate, offering an intro into the unique natural and homo history of the wetlands. Y'all'll learn all about the cultures of the native peoples who inhabited the glades and go a experience for the booming biodiversity that awaits deeper in the park.

Anhinga Trail

Curt but packed with wild fauna, the Anhinga Trail is under one mile of Everglades wilderness. Information technology starts at the Regal Palm Visitor Middle and runs across creaking boardwalks, through reeds, sawgrasses, and sloshing water channels. Sometimes, y'all'll run into more alligators than you tin can shake a juicy steak at – but it'southward probably not a good idea to do that! In addition, at that place are all sorts of insects, sub-tropical birds, and curious flora to witness.