Everglades National Park

Location: south Florida
Date: March 5, 2008

Alligator

On my visit to Everglades National Park I drove from the Coe Visitor Center to Flamingo and stopped at all six short interpretive trails along this road.

Softshell turtle

Royal Palm/Anhinga Trail
Just inside the park and past the visitor center this short trail is partly a boardwalk. This is probably the best place in the park for viewing wildlife. From this trail you can see plenty of alligators, shorebirds, waterfowl, turtles, and fish.

Double-crested cormorant
Anhinga chick

Pinelands
This is a 0.4-mile loop trail that travels through pines and palmettos. I thought that the most interesting feature of this trail was all the tree snails, which were surprisingly colorful.


Pinelands
Snail

Pa-hay-okee Overlook
Only 0.16 mi round trip, this loop boardwalk goes to a raised observation platform overlooking the river of grass. This was probably the best view in the park.


View from the Pa-hay-okee Overlook

Mahogany Hammock
This 0.5-mile boardwalk goes through the dense hardwood hammock and passes the largest mahogany tree in the United States.


Mahogany hammock

West Lake
Another 0.5-mile boardwalk, this trail goes through dense mangrove forest to the edge of West Lake. It was really interesting to be able to walk through the dense mangroves.


West Lake boardwalk through the mangroves

West Lake and mangroves

Eco Pond/Flamingo
This is a 0.5 mile loop around a small lake just inland from the bay. This is apparently a good place to see birds and other wildlife, but it was mostly dry when I visited.

View into the bay from Flamingo

An osprey at Flamingo
For more about the Everglades read about my visit in January 2014.




© Copyright 2017 Matthew Pintar. All rights reserved.







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