I have been researching the Everglades as a side trip from South Beach but the website to the park says there was quite a bit of damage from Wilma. We will be there the first week of December - has anyone been there lately? Is it possible to still enjoy the Everglades, or is too much closed off or damaged?

Also, how feasible is a day trip from South Beach to the Everglades? How long will the drive be and does anyone have any advice of the best use of our time there? We'd enjoy canoeing and seeing as much wildlife as possible, either on our own or part of a tour.

Thanks very much!

ST

I'm going there in February so I've been researching some of the same things. I'm planning on going to the Gulf Coast and Shark Valley areas, but you might be thinking of going to Flamingo. There's canoeing at GC and Flamingo, but it looks like Flamingo is still closed because of the damage. Maybe it will be open by the time you get there, otherwise GC could be your backup plan if you really want to go canoeing.

If you do go to GC, it would probably be about 2.5 hours or so from SoBe. You could also go to Big Cypress Nat'l Preserve while in the area. If you do that, I'd say stay overnight somewhere (Naples maybe?) to give yourself enough time to explore. It seems like the GC and Shark Valley areas were the first to reopen, so they weren't as heavily damaged as Flamingo.

Thanks for the info Weasel!

We had a late December lodging reservation in Flamingo, which was canceled because the facilities there are badly damaged. We had hoped to spend some time in the southernmost Everglades, but I'm worried that there won't be much to see.

What about the National Park boardwalk trails, such as the Anhinga Trail? And, is the Shark Valley tram running?

Thanks!
Al F

Shark valley is open and tram is running. also anhinga trail is open.

can stay in homestead/florida city - not far from entrance to park.

www.hps.gov/ever gives you some info