Everglades Florida - Sports and Outdoors
FLORIDA'S EVERGLADES: MUCH MORE THAN SWAMPS AND 'GATORS
Our encounters with nature were not limited to our aquatic excursions. The Everglades boast enormous quantities and varieties of birds. Pavilion Key, our final night's campsite, provided the trip's avian highlight. Entranced, we watched a flock of young egrets learning to fish (not too successfully, either!) under the attentive eye of an adult. The adult birds seemed to work in shifts; one would supervise for a while, then a new adult would land to oversee the fishing, allowing the first one a break...read more »
Fishing
Six Chuter Charters Sport Fishing the waters from Naples, Marco Island, the Ten Thousand Islands and into the Gulf of Mexico with Florida native Captain Shaun Chute.
Chokoloskee Charters
- Florida Everglades National Park guided fishing adventures. Fish Everglades National Park & 10,000 Islands. Light Tackle and Fly Fishing in the pristine waters of the Everglades Backcountry.
Over one million acres of sheltered waters, excellent year round weather, fine accommodations, a richly diverse fishery ... A traveling fisherman's ideal destination!
Parks and Preserves
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
 click image for larger view
Take a stroll down the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk and step into the interior of the world’s only Bald Cypress-Royal Palm Forest where you’re likely to spot Otter, American Alligators, Florida Box Turtles, and perhaps a Bald Eagle pair and their fledgling chick.
An eleven-mile drive down Jane’s Scenic Drive truly showcases the park’s different natural communities. Buttonbush and Glades Morning Glory have responded to recent rains and they’re in full bloom. You’ll spot butterflies ranging from the Zebra Longwing and Ruddy Daggerwing to the White Peacock and the Common Buckeye as they flit from plant to plant along the drive. Don’t forget to look up where you’ll spot Red-shouldered hawks, Swallow Tail kites, Northern harriers, Osprey and perhaps even the Everglades Snail Kite. Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes, the Florida cottonmouth and other reptiles can be seen sunning themselves on the side of the road as well. And of course, keep an eye out for White-tailed deer, black bear, bobcat and the Florida panther.
Location: Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is located on Janes Memorial Scenic Drive, just west of Copeland on S.R. 29.
Open 8 am until sundown 365 days a year
Admission is Free
Phone: 239-695-4993
Big Cypress National Preserve
Big Cypress National Preserve, established in 1974, was the first preserve within the National Park System and currently covers more than 2400 square miles of the Big Cypress Swamp in southwest Florida. "Big" refers not to the size of the trees within the preserve, but to the area covered by cypress. In addition to cypress, the diverse subtropical landscape includes islands of slash pine, mixed hardwood hammocks (tree islands), wet and dry prairies, marshes, estuarine mangrove forests, and amazing quantities of bromeliads and orchids. Water follows a gentle declining slope of two inches per mile as it flows slowly south toward the Gulf of Mexico, allowing the rich array of vegetation to thoroughly clean the water before it reaches the mangrove wilderness of the Ten Thousand Islands in Everglades National Park. Wading birds such as the roseate spoonbill, wood stork, limpkin, and a variety of egrets and herons are residents, delighting visitors as they gather to feed on aquatic creatures concentrated in pools and canals along Tamiami Trail and elsewhere in the preserve during the winter dry season. Alligators, manatees, white-tailed deer, black bear, and the endangered Florida panther also make the preserve their home.
Big Cypress National Preserve is a land of primeval beauty unlike any other in the United States. Friends of the Big Cypress National Preserve acknowledges the wisdom and foresight of the preserve's founders and we pledge to do our part to ensure the preserve is here for future generations to enjoy.
Big Cypress National Preserve Oasis Visitor Center
HCR 61 Box 110 ~ Ochopee, Fl 34141
Phone: 239-695-1201
Hours: 8:30am - 4:30pm
Trails
Florida Trail
The Preserve includes 31 miles of the Florida Trail. The Florida Trail that stretches through the Preserve can be very wet in the rainy season. The Florida Trail can be reached by entering it at the Big Cypress Oasis Visitor Center.
Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail
This is a short, self-guided trail located on Loop Road.
Canoe Trail
Turner River
A launch site for canoes and kayaks is being built on the north side of Hwy 41. Currently, everyone launches and parks their vehicles along the south side of Hwy 41 near the river.
Boardwalks
Oasis Visitor Center
A short boardwalk is at the Oasis Visitor Center.
H.P. Williams Picnic Area
A short boardwalk at the picnic area, located at the crossroads of Hwy 41 and CR 839 (Turner River Road).
Kirby Storter Wayside Park
A lengthy boardwalk is at this site located along the south side of Hwy 41 in the Preserve.
Roads
Loop Road
Loop Road is a 26-mile, single-lane, unimproved road connected to Hwy 41 near Monroe Station (Collier County) and ending on the eastern side of the Preserve on Hwy 41 in Dade County.
Turner River Road/Birdon Road Scenic Loop
This road is a 17 mile graded-dirt drive beginning at the H.P. Williams Picnic Area on Hwy 41. Drive north on Turner River Road, west on Wagon Wheel Road, and south onto Birdon Road ending up back at Hwy 41. Turner River Road continues north toward Bear Island Camprground area.
Ranger Led Activities at Big Cypress Preserve - Click Here »
How to get to the Big Cypress National Preserve Oasis Visitor Center, located in the center of the Preserve:
From the west coast of Florida:
South on I-75 to exit 80 (also Hwy 29) turn right (south). When you reach a blinking light at the intersection of Hwy 41 (Tamiami Trail) turn left (east) and you are in the Preserve. From the intersection of Hwy 29 and Hwy 41 the Oasis Visitor Center is approximately 23 miles east on Hwy 41. There are no gas stations in the Preserve, so if you need gas be sure to get some at the intersection of Hwy 29 and Hwy 41.
From the east coast of Florida:
Exit onto Hwy 41 (Tamiami Trail) going west. When you reach the intersection where the Indian Gambling Casino is located, continue west on Hwy 41. From the gambling casino it is approximately 30 miles to the edge of the Preserve. The Oasis Visitor Center is approximately 38 miles west of the Indian Gambling Casino on Hwy 41. There is gas at the corner where the Indian Gambling Casino is located and also in the Indian Reservation, but none in the Preserve, so if you need gas be sure to get some.
History of Big Cypress - Click Here
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