We left the Hollywood KOA early in the morning with a goal to get to our next destination by 10:00 a.m.: Everglades National Park. We have visited many National Parks together and apart, but Everglades National Park is our first National Park visit together while full-time RVing (hence the more than 50 photos below🤷). Pat is old enough to have purchased the senior pass, which costs $80 and allows for free entrance to all National Parks for you and one guest for your lifetime!
We arrived at our first stop in the Everglades National Park at about 10:15 a.m., Shark Valley, which is located at the northern part of the National Park. Shark Valley has a sawgrass prairie that floods during the rainy season and becomes a marsh but dries out during the dry season. Thus, it is home to various species of wildlife, including alligators; ibis; white-tailed deer; black bears; great egrets; great white heron; anhinga; and many others.
Our plan was to take the Shark Valley Tram Tour, which has a tram leaving every hour on the hour from the Visitor’s Center. When we arrived, all of the oversized vehicle parking at Shark Valley was taken and we were told to try again in the afternoon. We left and began to drive down the highway adjacent to the park entrance when we noticed a Native American Gift Shop, run by the Miccosukee Tribe, with a huge and empty parking lot. We parked in the lot and ventured into the gift shop, where we made a few purchases and asked if it was okay to leave our RV parked in the lot for a few hours while we walked the quarter mile back to the Shark Valley entrance to the Everglades National Park to take the tram tour. They graciously said it was okay to leave the RV parked there for a while, but thought we were crazy for walking to the Shark Valley entrance from their gift shop. The walk was only a quarter of a mile along a highway that had bike lanes, but at one point, there was a narrow bridge with no shoulder. We literally had to run across the bridge for a few minutes, from one side to the other; so, we waited until we did not see any vehicles coming from either direction and ran! Pat had never run so fast in his life! Luckily, we made it safely to the Shark Valley Visitor Center and bought our tickets for the two-hour tram tour.
The tram tour did not disappoint. Our driver-spotter and naturalist guide, Woody and Rick, were truly knowledgeable about the Shark Valley and the wildlife within. Rick’s witty banter added to the fun. We saw many alligators, and even two crocodiles, which are not native to Shark Valley since it is mostly composed of fresh water and not saltwater; however, Rick explained that saltwater seeps into the marshes of Shark Valley at some points, making the water brackish. We also saw egrets, white heron, anhinga and of course the white ibis. Halfway through the tram tour, we stopped at a 45-foot-high observation deck, where we could see 20 miles in all directions.
At the end of the tram tour, we walked (and ran) back to our RV and drove to the entrance to the park where we would be camping: the Flamingo Campground. The Flamingo entrance to the Everglades National Park is located on the southern-most side of Florida, between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, which is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Shark Valley. We arrived about an hour before sunset. The campsite only has electrical hookups, no water or sewer hookups, but we had prepared for this by ensuring that our freshwater tank was full.
At the end of the tram tour, we walked (and ran) back to our RV and drove to the entrance to the park where we would be camping: the Flamingo Campground. The Flamingo entrance to the Everglades National Park is located on the southern-most side of Florida, between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, which is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Shark Valley. We arrived about an hour before sunset. The campsite only has electrical hookups, no water or sewer hookups, but we had prepared for this by ensuring that our freshwater tank was full.
On the second day of our visit to Everglades National Park, we walked the one-mile Guy Bradley trail from our camping area to the Flamingo Visitors Center. The trail runs along the Florida Bay. At the Visitor Center, we bought tickets for the Backcountry Boat Tour; a 90-minute tour that ventures up the Buttonwood Canal through Coot Bay and Tarpon Creek into the mouth of the Whitewater Bay. Our ship captain and naturalist, Nick and Mitchell, pointed out unique plant and animal life found in the waters. We saw more alligators (including some baby alligators) and various bird species. Mitchell was very knowledgeable about the plant life in the waters, including cypress; buttonwood trees; white, black, and red mangrove; and, bromeliads. We enjoyed the boat ride itself, as the weather was pleasant. After the boat tour, we headed back to the Visitor’s Center, where we bought the first of what we hope will be many souvenirs from National Parks (we are trying to limit our souvenir purchases to National Parks and Presidential Libraries) and got our first stamps for our National Park Passport Books. Then we took the one-mile Guy Bradley Trail back to our RV site before sunset.
The Flamingo Campground is located inside the Flamingo entrance to Everglades National Park. The Flamingo Visitor’s Center (currently being renovated and temporarily located in a trailer), located a one mile walk from the RV campground, offers educational displays and informational brochures. The marina, located near the Visitor’s Center, has a boat ramp for public use, a general store, and a food truck. You can also rent canoes, kayaks, and bicycles at the marina; and buy tickets for the boat tours. The Flamingo area of the Everglades also allows boating and fishing (but no fishing in the Flamingo marina).
There are 61 RV sites at the Flamingo Campground, with only electrical hookups. There is also tent camping available and “wilderness” camping (most “wilderness” camping sites are only accessible by water). Although there are no sewer hookups in the RV campground area, there is a dump station located within the area. About half of the RV sites offer shade; the remainder of the sites (including ours) had no shade, which meant that the RV really heated up in the direct sunlight during the day. The RV Campground was beautiful and quiet; and the RV sites were very large, with extra space for spreading out if you wanted to put out a tent or picnic area. We enjoyed our stay at the Flamingo Campground and would definitely consider returning to the Everglades to explore more of the park.
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