Visited: Feb 2019
Nearby cities: Miami, FL; Naples, FL
Directly adjacent to Everglades National Park, you will find Big Cypress National Preserve. This large preserve consists of 720,000 acres, and protects the transitional ecosystem of cypress forests with the wet freshwater marl prairies of the Everglades.
To learn more about the history and ecosystem of this region of South Florida, here is a link to our post about the Everglades National Park:
Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket in Texas, were the first two NPS units designated as National Preserves, both established on October 11, 1974. A preserve is a designation that protects resources similar to a National Park, but, unlike a National Park, a Preserve does allow limited extraction of certain natural resources, such as hunting and mining. Today, there are now 21 units designated as preserves in the National Park System.
In the 1960s, locals were able to successfully prevent planned relocation of Miami International Airport to land that is now inside the boundaries of the Preserve. When the park was established in 1974, local tribes (Seminole and Miccosukee) were provided with permanent rights to occupy the land and use it in traditional ways. They were also given first-right to develop commercial enterprises related to the Preserve, including guided tours.
Big Cypress is a very diverse and vibrant ecosystem. You will find groves of cypress trees, mangroves, and orchids. There is also lots of wildlife: alligators, herons, rattlesnakes, deer, river otter, and Florida Panthers.
We made a quick stop at the Oasis Visitor Center. There is a small boardwalk trail and we saw lots of alligators sunning themselves just below the boardwalk. We also saw a great heron and some other birds.
As we drove through the Preserve along US Highway 41 (the Tamiami Trail), Tara and I decided to play a game. We decided to count the alligators we saw along the road. I was driving so I had to focus primarily on that, but Tara would diligently watch from the passenger window and alert me everytime she saw an alligator. 😀 ...after about thirty minutes, I told Tara to stop counting, and she was at around thirty or so...it was kind of freaking me out. 😳😀 There were SO many alligators out there.
This is a good place to stop to pair up on your trip to the Everglades.
For more info: https://www.nps.gov/bicy/index.htm
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