Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
this sheltered launch was described by old Gladesmen, but damn if it isn't heaven inside: a
capillary network of mangrove creeks, saw-grass islands and shifting mudflats, where the
brambles form a green tunnel and all you can smell is sea salt and the dark organic breath
of the swamp. Three chickee sites are spaced along the trail.
Hiking Trails
HIKING
State Rd 9336 cuts through the soft heart of the park, past long fields of marsh prairie,
white, skeletal forests of bald cypress and dark clumps of mahogany hammock. There are
plenty of trails to detour down; all of the following are half a mile (800m) long.
Mahogany Hammock
leads into an 'island' of hardwood forest floating on the water-
logged prairie, while the
Pinelands
takes you through a copse of rare spindly swamp pine
and palmetto forest. Further on,
Pa-hay-okee Overlook
is a raised platform that peeks
over one of the prettiest bends in the River of Grass. The
West Lake Trail
runs through
the largest protected mangrove forest in the Northern Hemisphere. Further down you can
take a good two-hour, 1.8-mile (2.9km) hike to
Christian Point
. This dramatic walk takes
you through several Glades environments: under tropical forest, past columns of white
cypress and over a series of mudflats (particularly attractive on grey, cloudy days), and
ends with a dramatic view of the windswept shores of Florida Bay.
