Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
Although the grassy waters - the Everglades ecosystem - extend outside Everglades Na-
tional Park (the third-largest in the continental USA), you really need to enter the park to
experience it. There are three main entrances and three main areas of the park: one along
the southeast edge near Homestead and Florida City (Ernest Coe section); at the central-
north side on the Tamiami Trail (Shark Valley section); and a third at the northwest shore
(Gulf Coast section), past Everglades City. The Shark Valley and Gulf Coast sections of
the park come one after the other in geographic succession, but the Ernest Coe area is en-
tirely separate. At all of these entrances you'll pay $10 for a vehicle pass, or $5 if you're a
cyclist, both of which are good for entrance for seven consecutive days into any entrance
in the park.
These entrances allow for two good road trips from Miami. The first choice is heading
west along the Tamiami Trail, past the Miccosukee reservation and Shark Valley, all the
way to Everglades City, the Gulf Coast and the crystal waters of the 10,000 Islands.
The other option is to enter at Ernest Coe and take State Rd 9336 to Flamingo through
the most 'Glades-y' landscape in the park, with unbroken vistas of wet prairie, big sky and
long silences.
Getting There & Away
The largest subtropical wilderness in the continental USA is easily accessible from Miami.
The Glades, which comprise the 80 southernmost miles of Florida, are bound by the At-
lantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. The Tamiami Trail (US Hwy
41) goes east-west, parallel to the more northern (and less interesting) Alligator Alley
(I-75).
Getting Around
You need a car to properly enter the Everglades and once you're in, wearing a good pair of
walking boots is essential to penetrate the interior. Having a canoe or kayak helps as well;
these can be rented from outfits inside and outside of the park, or else you can seek out
guided canoe and kayak tours. Bicycles are well suited to the flat roads of Everglades Na-
tional Park, particularly in the area between Ernest Coe and Flamingo Point. Road
shoulders in the park tend to be dangerously small.
