Start in Naples- This is the West End of Alligator Alley. Alligator Alley is now Interstate 75, but it used to be a deadly two lane road with no rest stops except the Indian Reservation gas station. Now it has rest areas, divided highway, and bridges built so the endangered Florida Panther can commute below the raised road.
Naples is also the start of narrow, water filled ditch flanked TAMIAMI Trail. The name is a contraction of "Tampa to Miami"...(US 41)
that goes south, then south east through Big Cypress Preserve The preserve and visitor center are FREE. Great gator viewing and welcome
center with Natural History Displays
Closer to Miami is “Shark Valley” (no sharks, no valley) This is the NW entry/ tram ride into the everglades. There is a concrete viewing tower, and gators can be close in season. $10 park fee, bikes allowed, tram ride is $20 or so per person The entire US 41 roadway is flat and straight to Miami -the hard way.
Closer to Miami is “Shark Valley” (no sharks, no valley) This is the NW entry/ tram ride into the everglades. There is a concrete viewing tower, and gators can be close in season. $10 park fee, bikes allowed, tram ride is $20 or so per person The entire US 41 roadway is flat and straight to Miami -the hard way.
Straight south of Naples is Everglades City. It has the
oldest white man outpost in the glades- a general store on stilts that
overlooks Florida Bay (the west side of Florida Bay). It is a long way down, same way
back down a county highway. This is the west extreme of the everglades ( way
beyond the Natl Park boundary, but still the glades).
Belle Glade- Town on the SE side of Lake Okeechobee, where
the river of grass starts. Earthworks and flood gates date back to Roosevelt
Administration. Sugar Cane Fields, Jamaican and Dominican cane workers, Sugar
Refinery’s.
Flamingo (town)- Southern tip of Everglades Natl Park. Enter
the park SW of Homestead. $10 per car fee. Nice visitor center just inside the entrance. Long two lane park road from visitor
center to Flamingo. Mid-summer it is dead, but winter and early spring lots of birds, late
spring gators, canoe trails if you dare.
Sebastian Inlet- about 2 hours north of Ft. Lauderdale on
the East Coast.- Platte (Spanish for Silver) Fleet
Museum- Part of Mel Fishers- and others-- stash on display. Silver still
washes up on the shore after storms. If you find it on the beach or in water
less than waist deep you can keep it! This is where my daughter, sister, and
wife swam with a live dolphin- by accident, and we saw a herd of crabs migrate
through the inlet.
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