Everglades National Park

If you're flying across South Florida on U.S. 41 from Miami to Naples, you'll breeze right by the Everglades. The freeway (known as Tamiami Trail) skirts the edge of Everglades National Park and cuts across the Big Cypress National Preserve. You'll also be near the park if you're en route from Miami to the Florida Keys on U.S. 1, which travels through Homestead and Florida City, two communities to the west of the main park entrance. Basically, if you're in South Florida you can't get away from the Everglades. With large tourist draws like Miami, Naples, and the Florida Keys so close by, travelers from all over the world make day trips to the park.

There are three main entry points to the park: the park headquarters at Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, to the southwest of Homestead and Florida City; the Shark Valley area, in the northern reaches and accessed by Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41); and the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, south of Everglades City in the west and the closest to Naples.

You can explore on your own or participate in the free ranger-led hikes, bicycle tours, bird-watching tours, and canoe trips; the number and variety of these excursions are greatest from mid-December through Easter, and some (such as the canoe trips) aren't offered in the summer. Among the more popular are the Anhinga Amble, a 50-minute walk around the Taylor Slough (departs from the Royal Palm Visitor Center), and the "Early Bird Special," a 90-minute walk centered on bird life (departs from Flamingo Visitor Center at 7:30 AM). Ask at the visitor centers for more information.