“The Everglades is a test. If we pass it, we may get to keep the planet.”
Joe Podgor wrote those words in a park brochure about 30 years ago.
The grade’s not in yet, but we must pass.
Everglades National Park is unlike any other National Park. In fact, its very existence as a park is extraordinary. This massive wilderness – 1.5 million acres in south Florida – became a National Park in 1947 not for its scenery, but for its unique and important biodiversity.
There are plant and animal species here that are found nowhere else on the planet. It’s the largest freshwater marsh in the United States, and it is home to 39 native species that are federally listed as threatened or endangered. That includes the Florida panther, the American crocodile, the American alligator, the wood stork, the snail kite, and my family’s favorite, the West Indian manatee.
If you’re lucky like we were, you may even see two of those species on the same day, living and preying on the same tributary of the Shark River – the American crocodile and the American alligator. We took a Park Ranger guided tram tour at the Shark Valley Visitor Center to learn more about the park. Our ranger and driver pointed out various species of plans and wildlife. We lost track of the number of alligators we saw. But we did see one of the two crocodiles that live in Shark Valley.
How can you tell the difference? The alligator is black and has a rounded, thicker snout. The crocodile is olive green and has a narrow, more pointed snout. From the tram, we came within a few feet of both.
We saw dozens of birds – ibises, egrets and herons, and even a stork. And we climbed the observation tower, where yet another alligator was sunning below, and where we could see a large softshell turtle surfacing and swimming.
We could also see several alligator gar, the alligator’s favorite food.
Fortunately, we did not see any of the invasive pythons that are killing natural wildlife in the Everglades. Floridians apply for permits to hunt and kill Burmese and reticulated python, and eliminated about 7,000 last year, according to our Park Ranger. But conservative estimates say there are now about 100,000 pythons in the Everglades. These snakes can reach up to 18 feet and are thriving, all because someone (or some people) released their "pets" into the wild.
You can take the tram or bike the 15-mile, unshaded loop at Shark Valley. We opted for the tram since it was nearly 90 degrees outside, and we wanted a science lesson.
The park hosts nine unique habitats, ranging from marine/estuarine to mangrove, and from freshwater prairie to hardwood hammock. The most famous description of the Everglades comes from conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who called it the “river of grass.”
Navigating the Everglades can be intimidating, and the park’s website is not particularly helpful. It describes the Gulf Coast Visitor Center as being open and having educational displays, but in fact it no longer exists as a result of several hurricanes. There was a nice Park Ranger sitting in a pavilion at the site of where a new visitor center will go (one day, but construction has not even begun) in Everglades City. She stamped our Park Passports and let the boys take their Junior Ranger oaths. There were portable bathrooms here and a boat launch for a Ten Thousand Islands tour.
The busier side of the park is near Homestead, with the main park road going from the Ernest Coe visitor center to Flamingo. There are two campgrounds in this part of the park, boat rentals, walking trails, and more. You can even rent a yurt or a houseboat.
There are two seasons in the Everglades – dry and wet. Dry season is from December through April and is a more popular time to visit as birds and their predators are more visible. Wet season is from May through November and infamously brings in more mosquitos.
There are official park concessioners offering tours out of Flamingo and Gulf Coast. In the north part of the park, there are plenty of charter boats and air boats available for hire to explore.
My boys loved gliding through the mangroves at 40 miles per hour on an airboat. And we took a kid-friendly, two-hour fishing trip, catching and releasing mangrove snapper, sheepshead, drum, and even a protected Goliath grouper. We saw a shark and a manatee on the trip. So when we caught two catfish, the captain used one as bait for a shark that we never caught. We’d love to come back and try again.
Meanwhile, we will strive to do our small part to help us pass the Everglades test and keep our planet. To start, we’ll support our National Parks, America’s best idea.
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