Visiting Everglades National Park
We decided to travel to Florida in 2019 to get away from the cold midwest winter and check out Miami, the Keys, and the nearby national parks. We had both been to Florida before, and this was my second time visiting the Everglades. This time I really wanted to take my time to find out all what the Everglades had to offer and really immerse myself in the park.
Things to Do in Everglades National Park
Hike: We spent a lot of time hiking the trails at Everglades. Most of these trails were pretty short, flat, and easy to access. We were able to hike all of the most popular trails in one day.
Kayak or Canoe: You can rent kayaks or canoes or bring your own. We rented our kayaks from this company at Flamingo Marina. It is the only rental company in the park and they can transport the kayak to other areas for a fee.
Camp: There are two established front country campgrounds in the park, Flamingo and Long Pine. We just drove up and got a site first-come first-served. Unlike many of the national parks that manage the campgrounds, Everglades goes through a different company (the same one that rents out the kayaks). You can check out the campgrounds here.
Bike: There are five bike trails throughout the park, but we were only able to find bike rentals at Flamingo Visitor Center, so that is where we biked.
Everglades National Park 2 Day Itinerary
Day 1
We entered through the Main Entrance near the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center and hiked a few of the most popular trails in the park. The Anhinga Trail is only four miles from the visitor center and a quick .8 mile loop. It is a great trail for viewing wildlife. Another nearby hike is the Gumbo Limbo Trail (only .4 miles round trip). There are several other trails on your way down to the Flamingo Visitor Center that you can stop off at and hike. They are all very short trails, and you can easily hike them all in a few hours or less. Twenty miles from the visitor center is the Mahogany Hammock Trail which gives you a jungle-like experience on a .5 mile boardwalk. From here, it is less than 20 miles to the next visitor center, Flamingo. Once we arrived, we found kayak and canoe rentals at Flamingo Marina and each rented a kayak for two hours (you can rent them longer if needed). We kayaked around the area, seeing both a crocodile and an alligator in the area. There are other trails near here, such as the Eco Pond Trail, where we had glimpses of alligators and turtles in the marshes under the boardwalk. We camped that evening at the nearby Flamingo Campground. You can also camp at Long Pine Campground (only open October-May), which is closer to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, but we liked the views better here, as it is near the ocean. These campsites are reservable, unlike Long Pine that is only first-come, first-serve.There were plenty of spots when we were visiting in late March, and we were able to choose a spot with a great view and plenty of privacy. The only thing we did not like about this campground was that they did not post our name on the site once we paid for it, like they do in most campgrounds, so there was no way for anyone to know which sites were already paid for and reserved, unless a tent was already up. There is currently a restaurant and lodge under construction, but when we were visiting in 2019, we had to cook dinner at our campsite.
Day 2
On our second day in the national park, we decided to drive to Shark Valley, which is two hours north from Flamingo Visitor Center. It is the perfect place to rent a bike, as it is a 15 mile paved loop from the visitor center to the observation tower. Just make sure to arrive here well before the visitor center closes, at 5PM. Most people opt to take the tram instead to the observation center, but we much preferred biking and seeing everything at our own pace. Shark Valley was our favorite part of the park, as we were able to see much wildlife on this 15 mile stretch. You will see alligators all over swimming or floating in the marsh or sun bathing on the nearby grass. There are two trails off of this main path where you can take a quick detour: Otter Cave Hammock Trail and Bobcat Boardwalk. They are both very short trails, but not necessary if you don’t want to get off of your bike or are short on time. We found a lot of alligators basking in the sun near the Shark Valley Observation Tower which is a short walk up to the top. This will give you an aerial view of the entire Shark Valley area. After hiking back down, we biked back to the visitor center and returned our bikes. You could definitely camp a second evening in the park, but there are not any campgrounds in the Shark Valley area. We decided instead to continue on to Miami, which is less than an hour drive from Everglades National Park.
