In order to make the most of your trip to Everglades National Park, you need to plan it well before you actually visit the place. It is because of a number of excellent activities offered in this massive park which you surely cannot do all in one day. Therefore, the best thing is to check your most desirable activities and then plan your day accordingly, especially if you are just on a one day trip to the park. Here, we will help you in knowing about the top activities that you can do in the Everglades National Park.
The Top 11 activities to do in the Everglades:
Everglades has got so much to offer to all types of people seeking fun, serenity, nice atmosphere or just having an exciting day with friends and families. The following is an exciting list of the top 11 things that you can choose to do in the Everglades national Park:
1. Fishing:
Fishing is the most exciting activity that you can do in the Everglades all day long. Although, the park is well respected for protecting the sea life and other animals, however, there are still numerous places in the park for doing licensed fishing. Fishing could be done both in freshwater and the coastal habitats. Trout, bass, and snapper are the particular species that can be caught either from a boat or by the edge of the water. You should note that there are a number of rules and regulations for fishing in the park that you must adhere to.
2. Kayaking:
Kayaking is another fascinating activity that you really cannot afford to miss. It is just not the kayaking experience but also the scenic beauty and the wildlife habitat which keeps you amused all the time you are on your boat. The park offers a large number of trails for this activity where each one has got a completely unique experience for you to explore. You can use your own kayak or canoe and launch it in your preferred trail. Otherwise, the park offers services as well where a kayak or canoe could be taken on rent for a specified amount of time. An average trail for kayaking for a round trip stretches above 10 miles.
3. Heritage of Calusa:
The art and history lovers would be totally amused by witnessing the rich and popular Calusa heritage in the park. Calusa actually were the natives who went on to occupy the vicinity of the park much before anyone else. If you want to explore more in this heritage zone then the guided tours around the Ten Thousand Island and the Pineland could be the good starting points. The tourists find March to be the perfect month for this activity as several events, free of cost takes place in this month regarding the Calusa heritage. However, you will find the Calusa heritage trail in the park open all through the year.
4. The Ingraham Highway Hike:
This fabulous 11-mile hike in the Everglades is the best hike that you can ever experience. It is mainly because of the serene wilderness and hearing the alligators splash into the river gives a very rare but an interesting feeling. A diverse range of bird species all along the way further adds to the already spruced up environment. Another good thing is that you can also go on this route using your bicycle and can stop for fun or photography at various curves of the trail.
5. Geocaching:
Geocaching provides tourists with an excellent excuse to explore the beauty of the Everglades National park in a totally different way. Geocaching is a treasure hunt like of an activity which mostly becomes the top item in most of the visitors’ To-Do lists. Registration for this activity is free and you will be required to have GPS or GPS supportive smartphone. As soon as the activity starts, you will find yourself in the vast southern Florida region in search of different hidden goodies. Along the activity, you will simultaneously be learning about the local wildlife and the environment of the park by the experts. It can be a completely family fun where you also get a chance to take on a geocache and becoming an NP ranger of the park for a day. The young visitors of the park really love to take on such opportunity.
6. Capturing the Best Views through your Camera Lens:
The best spot in the Everglades Park for photography is the Pahayokee overlook. While you stand on the Pahayokee platform, you will get to see the marvelous views of the massive sawgrass plains. Apart from that, the unique birds in the frame would further complement the beauty of the scene and would become an integral part of the lifelong memories of the park. Mahogany Hammock is another worth visiting trail for photography and several other fun-filled reasons. You will get the opportunity here to capture the hammocks, tree islands and the best is the largest (living) mahogany tree in the country. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to capture the water trails at the Gulf Cost and Flamingo where the local wildlife is the highlight. The shutterbugs here should take a note that the most suitable photography conditions exist either at dawn or at dusk. This is particularly when the natural lighting is soft and extremely suitable for photography.
7. Witnessing the Diverse Range of Wildlife:
The Everglades popularity in North America and beyond is because of its diverse ecosystem which hosts as much as 750 species of animals. The habitats range from the temperate North American to the exquisite Caribbean tropical, which makes possible the co-existence of a range of animals. Apart from the human-friendly species of animals, you will also find as much as 14 endangered species which include the likes of the West Indian manatee and the famous Florida panther. When we come across to the plant side, then you can see more than 1000 of its species within the park. The saw-grass making most of the plains in the park is also the oldest green plant species of the world to still exist. The unique thing about this plant is its adaptable roots which could survive during the dry and the wet season. The ecosystem of the plants is a kind of distressed due to the inclusion of numerous non-native species of plants that include mainly the seaside mahoe and the Brazilian pepper.
8. Educational Tours:
Take on a ranger-led tour if you are looking to know all the big to the minute details of the Everglades. You can ask all types of questions coming into your mind and also discover the areas which you would not be able to explore if not with the guide. Flaming, Royal Palm, and the Shark Valley are the places that have some really good visitor centers. You can find here about all the canoe trails or guided treks if you are actually thinking about such activities with an opportunity to learn as well at the same time. You can also use the service centers for checking the forthcoming schedules and could sign up for them as well if you are planning to visit the park again sometime soon.
9. Slough Slogging:
In case you are kind of biased to some squelch or maybe looking to put a pair of some new walking boots through their paces then you must tick the slough slogging in the Everglades Park in your To-Do list. This will provide you with the best possible way in order to take yourself really close to the amazing wetlands of the southern Florida region. If you happen to pass by the Ernest Coe visitor center in the park then make sure to ask about the next slog schedule that goes through the River of Grass which is an activity not to be missed. This is enjoyable also when you like standing up in the water while the sun shines fully.
10. Biscayne National Park:
Check out this activity if you are the type who loves to not only get underwater but also wants to swim along the coral reefs which are just offshore from the park. The Biscayne Bay dive and snorkel spots in the Everglades are also ranked among the top spots for the activity in the whole country. Technically, the Biscayne NP not exactly falls within the Everglades park region, but it is still worth visiting and something which the visitors plan while they are visiting the Everglades or they are anywhere in the southern Florida region.
11. The Exquisite Boat Tours:
It is all thanks to the reasonable water levels in the Everglades National Park which has made boating as one of the top means of transportation in the park. Especially, you would love to boat staring from the Gulf Coast area to the White Water Bay. This gives you an excellent opportunity to see closely the local wildlife and the wetlands just as nature have set them up. There are several tours operating here with a guided facility that offer tours at a reasonable price. You can shop online for the best boat operator with all the facilities that you may want to have on a 2-hour tour on average. The majority of the boat tours here include the services of a knowledgeable captain or a ranger onboard who will make you learn everything about history to wildlife to a range of other fun-filled activities in the park. Just make sure to come well prepared with all that you will need on a boat while the sun shines fully.
