First off, these are all my personal opinions – you may love one that I simply wasn’t impressed with! And, even the ones ranked lower aren’t necessarily the worst – they just aren’t as good in my opinion. I took into account length, difficulty, and my experience hiking the trails to compile this list of best trails in Everglades National Park.
Best Trails in the Everglades
There are some pretty incredible trails in the Everglades, but what makes them the most amazing is the wildlife (in my opinion). Therefore, your experience will likely be a bit different from mine. One of the best trails in the Everglades was Snake Bight Trail. Despite the worst mosquitos in the park, I saw tons of dragonflies, a turtle, an owl, butterflies, roseate spoonbills, and I heard a snake (I think) “run” away! Not to mention the flora like spiky pink-red flowers, gnarled trees, and Cape Sable Thoroughwort. It’s an unmaintained 3.2 mile out and back – it’s quite flat and ends in an awesome boardwalk/lookout area.
Going to the Everglades? Here’s a full guide to Everglades National Park!
The next amazing trail in the Everglades isn’t amazing because there’s a ton of wildlife – in fact, I only saw dragonflies. But the dragonflies, walking on the edge of the water, and the stillness was enticing and refreshing on the trails around Long Pine Key. In the winter, the campsite is open so there will be more people, but it’s still worth a stroll. There’s over 22 miles of unpaved, underdeveloped trails in the area, but I loved the one around the water because the dragonflies flit everywhere and land on tons of tall grasses. If you walk, they flit away, but in the stillness, they are magic and seem to wave.
Mahogany Hammock also didn’t have an exorbitant amount of wildlife, although you might be luckier than me. At dawn and dusk, owls, small birds, and insects are common, but what makes it magical is how different from the rest of the trails. You walk into the hammock and immediately feel like you are in a tropical jungle! It’s also got an amazing mahogany tree (the largest living in the United States), cute air plants, and gumbo limbo trees. It’s a 0.5 mile boardwalk and didn’t have too much foot traffic. Pro tip: Stop at Paurotis Pond to see jumping fish and birds.
Tram Loop Trail in the Shark Valley is one of the most amazing trails in Everglades National Park. It’s paved and long at 15 miles, but it’s bike friendly, flat, and there is a tram that takes visitors on a tour. It’s one of the best trails because of the sheer density of wildlife – in the first two miles alone, I saw six alligators (two on the pavement, one just across the creek, one in the grass, and two in the water), a heron eating, fish, and other birds. At the end, I saw a softshell turtle kicking his feet. Plus, in the middle there is Shark Valley Observation Tower where you’ll see tons of birds (maybe even more alligators or crocodiles).
Anhinga Trail, where you can see nearly everything the park has to offer, is probably the most popular trail in the park. It’s lower on my list of the best trails in Everglades National Park because there was so many more people in comparison to the other trails! However, it is still incredible. It winds through Taylor slough (a low-lying area that channels water through the Everglades) and the iconic sawgrass prairie while housing wildlife like alligators, anhingas, turtles, herons, egrets, and many more birds and fish. Otters and several species of fish are also present – for a 0.8-mile loop, that’s impressive.
Decent Trails in Everglades National Park
I wanted to title this section “meh” trails, but that seems a little harsh. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these trails, I just didn’t love them as much as the ones above. Some of them are similar to trails listed above, and the simple act of experiencing one before the other made it better!
Eco Pond Trail is high on the list of “lesser” trails because it’s beautiful – it just doesn’t have quite as much packed into the 0.5 mile loop as other trails. It goes around a freshwater pond – I loved it early in the morning because there was a group of birds, but alligators and softshell turtles are also common here. I imagine in the winter the pond is even smaller (it was already receded in May), but it’s worth a stop if you are in the Flamingo area.
Pa-hay-okee Overlook Trail is a short trail at 0.16 miles with a cool boardwalk and a sweeping view of the river of grass Everglades National Park is known for. If you are lucky you’ll see some wildlife, too! Far in the distance you can also see the lookout tower in the Shark Valley area of the park.
Guy Bradley (1 mile one way) connects to Flamingo campground. It’s a pleasant walk on and off the edge of the water, except for the construction which won’t always be there. You can go up to the water in some areas, but after walking all the other trails, the construction kind of made this one “not so great.”
Pineland Trail is a short, pleasant jaunt at 0.4-miles through pines, palmettos, and wildflowers – I didn’t love it just because it was very similar to the area where I live, but it is a nice change of pace from the rest of the Everglades. Plus, if you don’t have lots of pines where you live, it’ll be alluring!
Right next to Anhinga, there is Gumbo Limbo Trail. It’s only 0.4 miles and features many plants including gumbo limbo trees, royal palms, ferns, and air plants. This trail is cute, but I liked Mahogany Hammock much more. It had the same info and similar signs, but the trees and general feeling of the trail was more unique on Mahogany Hammock. There are many bumps, cracks, and branches, so be careful.
The two trails at Shark Valley, Bobcat Boardwalk (1 mile out and back) and Otter Cave Hammock (0.5 mile out and back) are cute and great if you only go to Shark Valley. The boardwalk is a raised path through sawgrass slough while the hammock is basically trees. If you only go to this area of the park, these trails are great, but they aren’t must do if you’ve been on any other trail.
Trails in the Everglades I Didn’t Hike
I didn’t hike these last few trails because they seemed similar to others, or they were significantly longer than I wanted to hike in one go. Many seem similar to Snake Bight Trail, but here’s a brief overview so you can make your own call.
Rowdy Bend Trail is 2 miles past Snake Bight. It’s another unmaintained trail with Cape Sable Thoroughwort (purple flower), and it’s 5.2 miles. I couldn’t handle any more bugs, so I skipped it, but it does end overlooking some water which would be awesome.
Christian Point Trailhead is another 2 miles down the main road from Rowdy Bend. It’s also unmaintained and is a 3.6 out and back trail. This one goes through several habitats, with dense mangroves opening to coastal prairie. Bromeliads (air plants), buttonwoods (dead and alive), and salt-loving vegetation are throughout. Plus, you’ll end up long the shore of Snake Bight without doing the Snake Bight Trail.
Bear Lake Road is less than half a mile down the road, and it will take you to the unmaintained (because, you guessed it, that purple flower) 3.2 mile out and back Bear Lake Trail. The Bear Lake Road is often closed to private motor vehicles (posted) due to water on the road (creating potholes) from June through mid-October/November. If you still want to hike it, it will add 3.2 miles for a total of 6.4 miles out and back. Bear Lake Road hugs Flamingo Canal until the trail starts, then you’ll be heading to Bear Lake Beach through hardwood hammock and mangroves!
West Lake Trail was closed when I went, or I would have stopped. It’s closed until 2022 because they are repairing hurricane damage. It’s described wonderfully, so I was sad to miss it. It’s a 0.5 mile boardwalk through white, red, and black mangroves and buttonwood trees. Views of the lake often provide wildlife sightings as well.
Coastal Prairie Trail is 15 mile out and back trail. It’s an old road that was used by cotton pickers and fishermen. Along this trail there are open prairies, coastal plants, and shady buttonwoods – it eventually ends at Clubhouse Beach. If you don’t want to hike out and back (it’ll take much of the day), make sure to get a background camping permit.
Bayshore Loop Trail starts at the same place (loop C), but you’ll veer left at the trail junction to the bay. It’s significantly shorter at 2 miles, and you can see remains of an old fishing outpost and up close effects of hurricanes. Most of the trail is up against the Florida Bay, and it’s a good mix of what you can see along Coastal Prairie and Christian Point Trails without going on the longer hikes.
Have you been on any of these trails? Which of these trails sticks out to you? Let me know if you have any questions!
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When I think of everglades I imagine swamps. So great to know there are some decent (if not great) hiking trails. You certainly tried enough trails to have a good view of what there are available.
They are wonderful flat trails! And while they don’t all give way to sweeping views, I still think they have amazing draws 🙂