Everglades National Park

Our trip into Everlades National Park was interesting and informative. We had gotten some great tips from another RVer about where to stay and what to see. On our way across 41, we stopped at Midway Campground and then on down to Big Pine Key.

There were definitely gators in this lake!

Midway Campground

Big Pine Key Campground

Sunset over the everglades.

We also walked the Anhinga Trail with Leon, our volunteer guide, who did a great job of sharing information about the Everglades and the animals that inhabit it. Before we started, we didn't even know what an Anhinga was! It's a bird that is similar to the cormorant; when it swims, it's whole body is underwater with just its head sticking up. When it comes out of the water, it has to spread its wings to the sun to dry off.

We learned how fragile this ecosystem is and how it has been damaged by the diversion of water that should flow from Lake Okeechobee down into the Everglades. Everglades National Park, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, boasts rare and endangered species, like the American Crocodile and the Florida Panther.

Flamingo visitor center and campground is at the southernmost end of the park that is still on land, however Everglades National Park extends south into the ocean to just to the edge of the Keys.

And just for fun, another video:

This is from the NPS website:

This national park is the 3rd largest in the lower 48 states, covering 2500 square miles
The boundaries of Everglades National Park protect only the southern one-fifth of the historic Everglades ecosystem. The Everglades landscape has changed dramatically in only the past 150 years. Continued population growth and the large-scale alteration of the south Florida ecosystem has greatly disrupted the historic order of the River of Grass.
In an effort to return the vestiges of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem to their former glory, Everglades National Park is closely involved in interagency efforts at restoration.

Due to the global significance of ENP, it has been designated a World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, and Wetland of International Importance.