Everglades National Park Tour Guide
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Everglades National Park
This park is located in southern Florida in a subtropical wilderness. This park is home to some rare and endangered species. You will see American alligator at this park and multiple colorful birds. Walk along the lush grassy wetlands, tall cypress trees, pine forests, oak and mahogany trees, natural moats and large bodies of water where you can canoe through the freshwater mangroves.
You will experience wildlife that you cannot see anywhere else. Look for beautiful pink Roseate spoonbill, Tricolored heron, purple gallinule, panthers, great egret and so much more. Don’t forget your camera to capture the beauty of this land and binoculars to see all of the wildlife.
Things to Know
Hours: Everglades National Park hours varies by entrance. Click the link to see updated hours. Open rain or shine 365 days a year.
Fee: $30 private vehicle
Fishing: saltwater and freshwater fishing is available in certain areas. Check their website for details. Florida freshwater and/or saltwater fishing license required.
Entrances: There are 3 entrances into the Everglades.
Gulf Coast (Everglades City) Flamingo which connects to Royal Palm - Open 24 hours
Shark Valley (Miami) - Open 24 hours but the parking lot is only open 8:30am to 6pm
Royal Palm (Homestead) Open 24 hours which connects to Flamingo and the Chekika Day Use Area - closed indefinitely
Visitor Centers:
Guy Bradley (Flamingo) - Open 8am to 5pm daily. Educational displays, gift shop, campground, boat ramp, marina store, hiking and canoe trails.
Address: 1 Flamingo Lodge Highway, Homestead, Florida
Gulf Coast - Closed temporarily due to Hurricane Ian. (July 2023). Kayak launch and covered pavilion are still available here. This area does not enter the park for hiking trails, it allows access to water activities.
Boat tours available for a fee
Canoe and Kayak rentals
Address: 815 Oyster Bay Lane, Everglades City, Florida
Shark Valley - Open 9am to 5pm daily. Tram operates 8:30am to 6pm daily. Restrooms available. Educational displays and gift shop. Parking is limited so you may have to wait to get into this entrance.
Address: 36000 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida
Ernest F Coe - Open 9am to 5pm April to mid December. 8am to 5pm mid December to March. Open 365 days. Amenities: Book store, souvenirs, restrooms.
Address: 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, Florida
Everglades National Park map
Hiking at Shark Valley
Observation Tower - tram will take you to the tower or you can walk/ride bike on the paved road. This is the highest elevation in the park at 70 feet. From the observation tower it offers panoramic views of the surrounding area. This is a 15-mile round trip loop from the visitor center.
Tram tickets - 2-hour open air tram tour
adult $31
seniors $24
child $16
child 0-2 is free
Bobcat Boardwalk - (seen in pictures below) this is a 0.2 mile walk one way. If you start at this trail, it will take you to the paved road where you can continue your hike along the road to Ottercave and the Observation Tower.
Ottercave Trail - this was closed when we were there in 2023. Unpaved 0.3-mile trail.
You can bring your own bike or rent from Shark Valley Tram Tours at this entrance. Bike rentals is $25 per bike.
Pets: only allowed in the parking lot
You can view beautiful birds, and a few alligators along the West Tram Trail road.
Don’t forget to take a picture at the Everglades National Park rock sign at the Ernest F. Coe entrance.
Ernest F. Coe Hiking Trails
This is the area we did the most hiking. All of these trails are easy walking on flat land/walkways. The road from Royal Palm will take you 38 miles to the Flamingo Visitor Center.
West Lake Trail - 0.4 miles
Anhinga Trail - 0.8 miles round trip. This is the area we saw the most alligators (4) when we were there. Also lots of birds, turtles, and fish to see.
Gumbo Limbo - This is a 0.4 mile hike round trip through some subtropical pine forests. This was a beautiful hike.
Pa-hay-okee Overlook - a short walk of 0.2 miles round trip. Along this path you will get to see much of the grassy wilderness area. Not as beautiful as the other hikes within the park.
Mahogany Hammock Trail - this is a 0.4 mile round trip hike. You will experience jungle like forest while walking this trail.
Flamingo Hiking Trails
We did not go to this area of the park, so I do not have any photos for reference. Be warned you will need bug spray in this area. I recommend a USA owned business for purchasing your all-natural bug spray. We use this bug spray all the time and love it!
There are 7 trails ranging from 1/2 mile to 6 miles. Some trails are available for biking also.
Canoe trails
There are 7 canoe trails from this location as well. They range from 1.9 mile to 11.5 miles.
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Camping at Everglades National Park
Flamingo Campground
Amenities: electric and non-electric sites, bathhouse, solar heated showers, flush toilets, two dump stations, picnic tables, grill, trash, camp store, potable water, and ranger led programs.
There are 235 sites and 55 with a view of the bay and 40 walk up sites. Reservation recommended but not required. Open 24 hours.
Generators (this is the generator we use; it is reliable and super quiet) are allowed 8am to 8pm in T loop only.
Cost: $33 to $38.50 for non-electric and $50-60 for electric sites.
Maximum RV length is 35 feet. No trailers allowed.
Long Pine Key Campground
Amenities: trash, dump station, potable water, flush toilets, hot showers, grills, firepit
Open seasonally November to May. Open 24 hours when open. Reservations and first come, first served available. 108 sites are available.
Cost: $33 to $38.50 for non-electric. No electric sites at this campground.
Maximum RV length is 35 feet. No trailers allowed.
Wilderness Camping
There are a few ground camping, beach camping, and elevated camping platforms available throughout the park. Check out their website for details on wilderness camping in the Everglades.
Camping outside of Everglades National Park
Panther Pond Campground
We chose to camp outside of Everglades. This campground was located in the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest area which is north of Everglades NP. This is a tent only campground, but we didn’t use a tent and camped in our campervan and were fine. This area wouldn’t work for large RV’s or travel trailers. NOTE: While we were there a neighbor said they had seen a rattlesnake so beware where you walk. This was a nice campground, and we would stay here again. We stayed at site #6.
Amenities: picnic table, fire ring with grill, port-a-potties, trash. Pond by the port-a-potties for fishing. When you pull into the campground, if you go to the end of the road, you will see the pond and the restrooms are across from the pond.
Fee: $9.09 per night plus booking fees. Make camping reservations HERE. 2023 price
GPS: 26.55361, -81.29676
Cell service: 1-2 bars Verizon
Located 1 hour 50 minutes to the Shark Valley Entrance at Everglades National Park. Located 1 hour 15 minutes to Fort Myers beach.
We enjoyed this peaceful campground with only has 16 campsites it makes a quiet place to stay for the night.
Recommended camping items
Robert is Here fruit Stand
When you are in Homestead make sure to stop by Robert is Here fruit stand. You have to get the fresh smoothies, which are amazing, and find a new rare and exotic fruit to take home. More details about this fruit stand can be found by clicking on the link.
Like this post? Here are more things to do in Florida
This marked our 15th National Park! This is an easy park to do in a day with the right planning. If you chose to canoe/kayak some of the area you might want to spend the night and complete this park in a couple days.
Make this a stop when in southern Florida. There are also two other National Parks close by. Dry Tortugas National Park and Biscayne National Park. You could spend a week or two and complete them all while in south Florida.
Enjoy the journey,
Meet the author: Jennifer
I am a girl who loves to travel and enjoys sharing expert family travel advice. I am a content creator and influencer on Instagram with years of travel experience and provide readers with advice, tips, and details on adventurous family travel and tips on saving money while boondocking or traveling across the US.
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