Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As you go past Homestead and Florida City, the farmland loses its uniformity and the flat
land becomes more tangled, wild and studded with pine and cypress. After a few more
miles you'll enter Everglades National Park at this friendly visitor center. Have a look at
the excellent exhibits, including a diorama of 'typical' Floridians (the fisherman looks like
he should join ZZ Top).
Royal Palm Visitor Center
PARK
( 305-242-7700; State Rd 9336; 8am-4:15pm)
Four miles past Ernest Coe Visitor Center, Royal Palm offers the easiest access to the
Glades in these parts. Two trails, the
Anhinga
and
Gumbo Limbo
(the latter named for
the gumbo-limbo tree, also known as the 'tourist tree' because its bark peels like a sun-
burned Brit), take all of an hour to walk and put you face to face with a panoply of Ever-
glades wildlife. Gators sun on the shoreline, anhinga spear their prey and wading birds
stalk haughtily through the reeds. Come at night for a ranger walk on the boardwalk and
shine a flashlight into the water to see one of the coolest sights of your life: the glittering
eyes of dozens of alligators prowling the waterways.
Flamingo Visitor Center
PARK
( 239-695-3101, 239-695-2945; marina 7am-7pm, from 6am Sat & Sun)
The most isolated portion of the park is a squat
marina
( 239-696-3101, 239-695-2591)
where you can go on a backcountry boat tour or rent boats. Due to its isolation, this area is
subject to closure during bad weather. Boat tours to Florida Bay or into the swampy back-
country run for $32.25/16.13 per adult/child, while canoes (two hours/four hours/full day
$16/22/40) and sea kayaks (half-/full day $35/45) are available for rental; if you do rent,
you're largely left to explore the channels and islands of Florida Bay on your own. During
rough weather be cautious, even when on land, as storm surges can turn an attractive
spread of beach into a watery stretch of danger fairly quickly.
Kayaking & Canoeing
BOATING
The real joy here in this part of the park is canoeing into the bracken heart of the swamp.
There are plenty of push-off points, all with names that sound like they were read off
Frodo's map to Mordor, including
Hell's Bay
, the
Nightmare
,
Snake Bight
and
Grave-
yard Creek
. Our favorite is Hell's Bay. 'Hell to get into and hell to get out of,' was how
