After our visit to Shark Valley Visitor Center in the Everglades we continued our exploration of…read morethe Everglades. Local knowledge directed us to take Loop Road through the Miccosukee tribal lands to reach Big Cypress NP-Oasis Visitor Center. Note: Loop Road is only paved to about the Miccosukee Cultural & Visitor Center. Very interesting one hour route through virtually untouched Everglades with sporadic homesteads. We then arrived at Big Cypress in the afternoon. Staff was very helpful. To my surprise there are still Miccosukee/Seminole men that put on alligator handling shows for tourists. The canal that parallels the visitor (Rt 41 Tamiami Trail) is filled with alligators, fish, turtles, ahingas, egrets & herons. A worthwhile stop when travelling through the Everglades. Nick & Liz, Albany, NY, USA

Would love to come spend more time here. It was relatively spread out, but there's a quaint visitor…read morecenter to help guide you on your way. We visited in November and it was still pretty hot for the season, so definitely recommend water / hats / sunscreen as nothing was super shady.

So beautiful!! Easy walking trail with observation deck along the way. Saw a gator and lots of…read morebirds! No shade really along the trail. Take your binoculars! This was really a lovely treat to find such different terrain, wildlife from Colorado. Would definitely recommend!

A great hiking trail to see wildlife. Parking is somewhat limited but no admission charge. Some…read moreparts of the trail are wide open and allow for great views of the Everglades and its inhabitants. I saw a ton of birds and a few gators. Other parts are surrounded by thick mangroves. The tower allows for great views from above.

They are redoing the walkway/ the walk isn't open it will be very nice when it's finished!read more

Today we did the extra activity on our list, driving to Shell Island Road and walking the…read moreboardwalk. Rain was threatening, but we took the chance, and we enjoyed it. The walk is a half mile long through several ecosystems. Signs tell you about the areas. The walk is easy, and on a sunny day you'll want sunscreen and a hat. You can walk quickly and get your steps in going around several times. Or you can stroll looking for animals. The boardwalk is well maintained as you can see that boards are being replaced. This is a place you can bring the family, and come anytime during the waking hours. Except for about 25 yards of a sandy trail, the boardwalk is handicapped accessible.

Florida panthers are a subspecies of mountain lion and the only one to still exist in the eastern…read moreUnited States. They used to roam from Florida to Louisiana throughout the Gulf Coast states and Arkansas. Today they are only found in the southwestern tip of Florida in the Everglades and here in Big Cypress Preserve. They are usually solitary unless mating and eat white-tailed deer, feral hogs, raccoons, birds, and other medium-sized mammals and reptiles. Hunting has decimated their population and they were added to the endangered species list in 1973. Today there are only 120 to 130 panthers left in the wild and with so few left they are also susceptible to disease, genetic disorders, and car accidents. The land that is now the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge was once owned by the Collier family who were the largest land owners in Florida in the 1920's. They used the land for private hunting cattle grazing. In 1989, the US Fish & Wildlife Service purchased 24,300 acres from the Collier family for $10.3 million dollars to create the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act for the purpose of protecting the the Florida panther and its habitat. Another 2,000 acres were purchased from the Collier family in 1996 to expand the preserve. It is believed that 12 to 16 panthers currently roam the refuge along with black bears, bobcats, white-tailed deer, Big Cypress fox squirrels, alligators and wood storks. You can access the hiking trails through the Leslie M. Duncan Memorial Trails in the southwest corner of the preserve by taking the Everglades City exit off of Alligator Alley. The preserve backs I-75. This is one of those places that I have wanted to explore but never had the time. How fast things can change in two weeks. At the gravel parking lot there is a port a potty, a board with trail information and access to two trails, one a third mile and one that is one and a third mile. You are only allowed access to a small portion of the preserve in order to not disturb the panthers. Bring your own water. I read the U,S. Fish and Wildlife Service Service website regarding this trail before attempting it because it seems like it could be dangerous to hang out with panthers. According to them "Panthers are rarely seen on the refuge. I have since learned that panthers are most active at night, during the day the rest. However, if you do see a panther, follow these guidelines: *Keep children within sight and close to you. Pick up small children. *Give the panther space. Give them a way to escape. *Do not run. Stand and face the animal. *Avoid crouching or bending over. *Appear larger. Open your jacket.(it was pushing 90 degrees, I didn't have a jacket) *Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can reach without crouching or turning your back." I chose the one and a third mile trail. You can access it through a gate in a fence from opposite ends of the parking lot. There is one look out area with a bench on the trail which is very narrow on natural ground. The trail is cut out from Big Cypress Preserve and meanders through the refuge through tropical hardwood hammocks, acres of slash pine, and wet prairies. Over 700 species of plants have been recorded here including lobelia, tickseed and prairie milkweed. Rare orchids and bromeliads are also found here. At times the plants and trees were as tall as my head on either side of me as I walked the trail. I didn't come across any panthers and didn't see so much as a footprint. In fact the only creatures I saw were some grasshoppers, bees, and a vulture. The path is in full sun and some shade but I was very hot by the time I got done. If you are looking somewhere off the beaten track to explore than this would be a good choice. The hike is not difficult and you can social distance safely. Although I saw a couple of cars in the parking lot I never encountered anyone on the trail.

Nice little park. It's right off I75 at fl29. The preserve its much larger than your access to it…read more The area you can hike is two trails, one .3 miles and the other 1.3 miles. It's next to big cypress preserve, so expect plenty of muddy parts. In November there were still some blood sucking insects, but the hordes of mosquitoes were gone. The policy of national parks was not lost on Florida Panthers. They left only footprints! I saw two prints and they followed prints by a deer. The prints were clear and probably hours old. There are little lizards everywhere. The flowers were long gone at this time of year.

I come here almost every day to walk my dog. It is a huge park, friendly to all visitors with…read moreplaygrounds, sports fields, and nature trails. The visitors generally do a very good job of behaving themselves, which I personally am thankful for because the park rangers do absolutely nothing. Several times I have seen people fishing in the lakes around the park (which is also a STATE PRESERVE WITH CLEARLY POSTED NO FISHING SIGNS), and every time the rangers have been completely unaware. They rarely venture outside of their station. As a result of this the quality of this park is slowly degrading. Aside from illegal fishing there is now graffiti and other signs of vandalism in multiple places throughout the park. Come here while you still can, before long it will be a much worse place because of lazy rangers.

Great spot for birdwatching. Often see black skimmers, black necked stilts, black bellied…read morewhistling duck, gallinules, ibis and lots more

This place is nicely snuggled between a Gass station and Gators Cross Roads restaurant…read more It is not to easy to spot from the outside. As you first walk by. The first thing you will see is probably the gators. There is a cage/pit with two different size gators, pretty cool right. Next to the gators is the entrance. The place is not very big. I saw goats, chickens,very happy roosters, chick's, eggs, ducks and white mice, and doves. I think I also sometimes that looked to me like a white Peacock. I could be wrong. I got talking to someone that was working the gators. He seemed friendly. He offered more information on the place and a little bit on gators knowledge. It seems the place was larger once upon a time but do to a hurricane damages had to downsize and donate some of the animals. This was truly an unexpected find at Tamiami trail next to a Gass station. I was glad today's adventure took me here.

Worthy of a visit if you are staying in Marco Island. This is another bit of Florida history which…read moreis interesting. It was interesting to see the walls being made by huge shells. Welsh that we saw a wild rabbit. Listed below is some information I found about the mound on Wikipedia. The preserve is named for a previous resident, Ernest Otter a one-time owner who had occupied the property until 1997. Otter is credited for the unique whelk shell terraces that define the preserve's signature man-made feature. The initial preserve was established with a 1.77 acre purchase in 2004 followed by an additional acquisition of .68 acres in 2007.Otter Mound and the property surrounding it was a home site for early settlers in the Caxambas Village who worked in the Marco Island clamming industry. The "Mound" on which Otter Mound Preserve sits was constructed by the Calusa native inhabitants from oyster, southern surf clam, lightning whelk, and other shellfish species and dates between 700 AD - 1200 AD.

Great little nature Trail off the beaten path in Marco Island. We were driving through exploring…read morethe neighborhood when we came across it and pulled in. It has some great nature trails that you can walk around and possibly see some wildlife. There are several areas marked off for tortoise nesting, but we did not get to see any that day. However, we enjoyed a nice little walk on the trails and viewed the pretty flora. Watch out for mosquitoes, though as the foliage is dense and we certainly got bitten. Check out the remnants of old walls made out of shells, which was super cool.

I'm not a boat owner anymore, but I can appreciate a nice launch site when I see it…read more When my folks lived on Marco Island, they'd walk down to Caxambas Park to enjoy a coffee and watch the action at the launch. You could watch the wildlife (pelicans, seagulls, and the occasional manatee). When we visited them, we'd join the Caxambas adventure, which we enjoyed. Many years later, we did a small vacation to see the "greatest hits" of my folks' past adventures. Sadly, the site was under construction and we couldn't really get the full experience. I can't hold that against them for the repairs - it needed to be done.

It's a longer drive for me get to the southern part of Marco island 41 min by truck/trailer. I've…read moreonly used this facility 2 times it's currently closed the last time I went but many places seem to have been closed temporarily due to hurricane Ian surge wave. So don't expect to buy gas or bait here. Safer yet, call ahead before making the extra trip out. Keep in mind the channels are generally the same but the sandbars come up real quickly even if you are going slow especially on a larger boat. I was lucky enough to back out as soon as the bow glanced sand at slow speed. By the time you touch a sandbar the transom alarm will alert shortly afterwards. I believe mine was set for a 3 foot alert. The trick here to enter caxambas pass is to aim for these building in the picture then slow wake to left side keeping red markers on the starboard side. And hug slight left all the way, unless you have a shallow riding boat. 27/2022