Everglades National Park1.5 million acres of subtropical wetland, the only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles share water

Everglades National Park protects the southern fifth of the original Everglades watershed — a 60-mile-wide, 100-mile-long sheet of fresh water that drifts south from Lake Okeechobee at roughly a quarter-mile per day. Marjory Stoneman Douglas named it the "river of grass" in her 1947 book, the same year the park was dedicated. Of the 1.5 million acres, the majority is sawgrass prairie, with mangrove forest along Florida Bay and pine rockland on the higher limestone ridges near the Homestead entrance.

Most visitors enter through the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center near Homestead and follow the 38-mile main road to Flamingo on Florida Bay. The Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm — a half-mile boardwalk eight miles in — is the most reliable place in the park to see alligators, anhingas, herons, and turtles within fifteen feet of the path; rangers count it as the best wildlife trail per square foot in the system. Shark Valley, on the north side off the Tamiami Trail, has a 15-mile flat paved loop ridable by bike or by tram, ending at a 65-foot Mission 66 observation tower with 360-degree wetland views.

Plan November through April for the dry season — water levels drop, wildlife concentrates around remaining sloughs, and the mosquitoes back off. Bring more water than you think you'll need, plus a hat; shade is rare on the prairie and Florida Bay sun is unfiltered. The park entrance fee is $35 per vehicle for seven days, valid at all four park entrances, and reservations are required for the Shark Valley tram tours December through March.