Top 3 Trails in Everglades National Park
The Everglades spans from Kissimmee down to Florida Bay. The national park is one big network of forests, prairies, and wetlands. It's also known for its huge amount of mosquitoes, especially during summer. But it’s all about good and bad luck. We visited the park in early July, packed with clothes to prevent mosquito bites. It turned out to be a bad year for mosquitoes, changed clothes because of the heat, and didn’t even need bug spray. December and January are the best months to visit the Everglades because there are fewer mosquitoes and temperatures are lower. Be prepared for a lot of mosquitoes and see what the conditions are when you arrive, you can always change clothes in your car or bathroom. If you forgot bug spray, you can buy one in the visitor centers. For the entrance fee, check here.
Table of Contents
- Anhinga Trail
- Snake Bight Trail
- Bayshore Loop
Anhinga Trail
The Anhinga trail is one of the most visited trails in the park. So you’ll likely encounter other people while exploring. The loop is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long. Most of the path is a wooden boardwalk through Taylor Slough. The loop is perfect for spotting wildlife such as birds, alligators, and turtles. We had bad luck with the gators, only saw 1. But when visiting at the right time of the year, you can’t look past them. Like everywhere in Florida summers are hot, so be aware that there’s almost no shade on the trail. The Royal Palm Visitor Center is located at the beginning of the trail. You’ll find a small store and accessible restrooms inside.
Snake Bight Trail
Snake Bight Trail is probably one of the easiest trails to walk, out & back, and straight. It’s a favorite of many visitors so you’ll probably meet other people exploring this part of the park. The trail is 3.7 miles (6 km) long. The boardwalk at the end of the trail is a popular and good place for bird-watching. Besides birds, you can spot gators, snakes, crabs, ... The trail offers a lot of shade but can be muddy sometimes.
Bayshore Loop
This loop near Flamingo is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and can be, depending on the period muddy. This trail is less known and there’s a big chance you’ll see nobody. This is because the trail is not maintained by the national park, but it’s still passable. The variety of vegetation is incredible, wet mangrove forests, coastal prairie grasses, Spanish moss canopies, and wildflowers. The mosquitoes are only in the forest area but the muddy trail and water counters the less amount of mosquitoes. Only in the forest is shade, a big part of the trail has no shade.
Ready to discover more of Everglades National Park and Florida? Take a look at the Florida guide. In case you want more than Florida alone, this guide adds Memphis and New Orleans.
