Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
signs and knowledgeable rangers. Shark Valley is located in the cypress-and-hardwood-
and-riverine section of the Everglades, a more traditionally jungly section of the park than
the grassy fields and forest domes surrounding the Ernest Coe visitor center. A 15-mile/
24km paved trail takes you past small creeks, tropical forest and 'borrow pits' (manmade
holes that are now basking spots for gators, turtles and birdlife). The pancake-flat trail is
perfect for bicycles, which can be rented at the entrance for $7.50 per hour. Bring water
with you.
If you don't feel like exerting yourself, the most popular and painless way to immerse
yourself in the Everglades is via the two-hour
tram tour
(
%
305-221-8455;
9:30am, 11am, 2pm, 4pm, Jan-Apr 9am-4pm every hr on the hr)
that runs along Shark Valley's en-
tire 15-mile trail. If you only have time for one Everglades activity, this should be it, as
guides are informative and witty, and you'll likely see gators sunning themselves on the
road. Halfway along the trail is the 50ft-high Shark Valley Observation Tower, an ugly
concrete tower that offers dramatically beautiful views of the park.
At the park entrance, the easy
Bobcat Boardwalk Trail
(800m) makes a loop through a
thick copse of tropical hardwoods before emptying you out right back into the Shark Val-
ley parking lot. A little ways past is the
Otter Cave Trail
(400m) which heads over a
limestone shelf that has been Swiss-cheesed into a porous sponge by rainwater. Animals
now live in the eroded holes (although it's not likely you'll spot any) and Native Americ-
ans used to live on top of the shelf.
Miccosukee Village
PARK
$10/6/free;
h
9am-5pm;
pc
)
Just across the road from Shark Valley, this 'village' is an informative open-air museum
that showcases the culture of the Miccosukee via guided tours of traditional homes, a
crafts gift store, dance and music performances, an airboat ride into a hammock-cum-vil-
lage of raised 'chickee' (wooden platforms built above the waterline) huts and (natch) gat-
or wrestling. There's a somewhat desultory on-site restaurant if you get hungry. The art
and handmade crafts from the on-site art gallery make good souvenirs.
