Directions to Everglades National Park
The Entrances
Everglades National Park has three entrances from land and one main entrance area with facilities from the water. These are:
- Gulf Coast Visitor Center, on the northwest tip of the Park
- Shark Valley Visitor Center, on the northern central edge of the Park
- Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, on the eastern edge of the Park
- Royal Palm Visitor Center, just a few miles inside the Homestead entrance to the Park, after Ernest Coe Visitor Center
- Big Cypress National Preserve Visitor Center, in Big Cypress National Preserve, next to Everglades National Park
- Flamingo Visitor Center, on the southern coast, accessible by water and via Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center
Each of these entrances and visitor centers offers a different angle on the Everglades, and depending on where you’re driving from, and what you plan to do, each one offers different activities as well.
Everglades Activities
What to Do in Everglades National Park
The National Park itself offers all kinds of ways to enjoy the outdoors and explore the Park. Join a group or set out for a private excursion, and you’ll definitely have a wonderful, surprising day of adventure. Here is what you can do in the Park itself. Scroll down further for a short list of what there is to do just outside the boundaries of the Park.
- go cycling on park roads and trails
- go canoeing, the best way to see the Everglades because you’re practically right down in the water
- experience fantastic bird watching
- go freshwater fishing, but don’t eat the freshwater fish, because of high mercury levels
- go saltwater fishing. Charter a boat or take your own. If you fish on your own, you’ll need a State of Florida fishing license. These are available at bait shops or from the Florida Dept of Conservation.
- take an organized tram tour throughout the park led by a naturalist
- go camping, but not during bug season. Get a permit for the backcountry and the primitive camping spots
Here’s what you can do just outside Everglades National Park
- go for an airboat tour: these unique “boats” cut through the sawgrass and actually lift off the water to skim through the Everglades’ thick grass. They’re prohibited in the Park.
- visit the Everglades Alligator Farm
- take an Eco Tour
- Paddle along the Wilderness Waterway
- shop for handicrafts at the Miccosukee Indian Village, located on the road between Miami and one of the entrances to Everglades National Park
Gulf Coast Visitor Center
The Gulf Coast Visitor Center is the spot where the Everglades brush up against the Gulf of Mexico, located near the remote outpost of Everglades City, about 2.5 hour drive west of Miami. There are also touristy attractions and enticements along the way, but it’s a remote drive, sometimes a little monotonous if you’re not really into driving.