The Everglades - Florida - page 310

area than the natural environment. It's a decidedly community museum, with rotating local
art and the feel of an attic full of everyone's interesting stuff and heirlooms, but charming
for all that.

Gulf Coast Visitor Center BOATING
( 239-695-3311, 239-695-2591; http://evergladesnationalparkboattoursgulfcoast.com ; 815 Oyster
Bar Lane, off Hwy 29; per day canoe/single kayak/tandem kayak $24/45/55; 9am-4:30pm mid-

Apr-mid-Nov, 8am-4:30pm mid-Nov-mid-Apr; )
This is the northwestern-most ranger station for Everglades National Park, and provides
access to the 10,000 Islands area. Boat tours depart from the downstairs marina into the
mangrove flats and green islands - if you're lucky you may see dolphins springing up be-
side your craft. This tangled off-shore archipelago was a major smuggling point for drugs
into the mainland USA during the late 1970s and early '80s; bales of marijuana were nick-
named 'square grouper' by local fishermen.
It's great fun to go kayaking and canoeing around here; boats can be rented from the
marina, but make sure to take a map with you (they're available for free in the visitor cen-
ter). Boaters will want to reference NOAA Charts 11430 and 11432.

DETOUR: LOOP ROAD

Loop Rd, off Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41), offers some unique sites. One: the homes of the Mic-
cosukee , some of which have been considerably expanded by gambling revenue. You'll
see some traditional chickee-style huts and some trailers with massive add-on wings that
are bigger than the original trailer - all seem to have shiny new pickup trucks parked out
front. Two: great pull-offs for viewing flooded forests, where egrets that look like ptero-
dactyls perch in the trees. Three: houses with large Confederate flags and 'Stay off my
property' signs; these homes are as much a part of the landscape as the swamp. And
four: the short, pleasantly jungly Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail . Be warned: the
Loop is a rough, unpaved road; you'll need a 4WD vehicle (there has been talk of repaving
the road, so it may have improved by the time you read this). True to its name, the road
loops right back onto the Tamiami; expect a good long jaunt on the Loop to add two hours
to your trip.