The Everglades is vast! There are so many different areas to explore… 1.5 million acres of land to be exact. The Park has three entrances that are hours apart from each other, so before you head down, you should decide which entrance you’d like to enter.  Your decision should be based on where you want to go and see and do. Here are the Park’s entrances:

Shark Valley in Miami: This area is considered the heartland of the Everglades. You can walk, bike, or ride a tram along a 15-mile loop from this entrance. There is a 65-foot observation tower that gives you an amazing view of the Everglades. You will definitely get to see birds, fish, turtles, alligators and more while in Shark Valley.

Gulf Coast in Everglades City: This center allows you to take a boat tour (on your own or scheduled) to see different sights. You can explore the Gulf Coast and mangrove estuaries of the Ten Thousand Islands from this area.

Royal Palm in Homestead: At this entrance you can go on the Anhinga Trail or the Gumbo Limbo Trail. Lots of wildlife can be spotted on the Anhinga Trail, which borders the Taylor Slough. The Gumbo Limbo Trail goes through a hardwood hammock. This is the Park’s main entrance.

If you follow the Everglades road, you can take the Pineland trail, which is a half mile around a pine forest. Or, you can go down the Pahavokee Overlook, which is a boardwalk trail with an observation platform looking over the Park. Lastly, this road can take you to the Mahogany Hammock Trail which goes through a dense hammock of air plants and gumbo-limbo trees. It is home to the largest mahogany tree in the United States. At the end of the road, you will find Flamingo followed by Florida Bay.

Want to explore the Everglades in another way? Not on foot? An airboat tour is the way to go!  If you go toward Homestead you can get on an air boat with Captain Mitch! An airboat tour with Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours give you an up close look of the Everglades. You’ll get to see lots of wildlife and plants on this trip. Captain Mitch has been navigating the Everglades for decades! To book an airboat ride, click Everglades airboat rides page or call 800-368-0065.

The Everglades isn’t just a fun place to explore, it can be very educational, as well. From the ecosystem to animals, there’s so much to learn about or in this National Park. Whether you’re an educator or a parent, the Everglades is a great place to bring children and teenagers to educate them on so many different topics.

The National Park Service and Everglades National Park offers a lot of different materials for educators or parents to use with their children in the classroom, at home, or even in the Park itself.

Below, we wanted to share some of these guides:

• Life of the Everglades ID Sheet – This worksheet has pictures of common plants and animals seen in sloughs and sawgrass prairie areas like the Anhinga Trail. You can easily bring this sheet to the Park to identify a certain plant or animal you spot.
• K-3: Everglades ABCs – This guide is filled with a lot of classroom activities for young children.
• 4^th Grade: The Journey of Wayne Drop: This guide teacher fourth grader about the Everglades Watershed through an interactive trip through the Park.
• 4^th-6^th Activity Guide – This guide provides interactive indoor and outdoor activities about the Park, plants, animals, native peoples, and more.
• Climate Change Activities – These activities aim to teach 5^th and 6^th grade students about the greenhouse effect, sea level rising, and carbon budget.
• 5^th-8^th Don’t Let it Loose Activity Guide: This guide talks about non-native and invasive species that are not good for the natural ecosystem.
• K-8: Everglades Mountains & Valleys Lessons Plans: These are curriculum-based plans and activities written by local south Florida teachers and park rangers.

Whether you’re a teacher, home school children, run a day care, or are just bringing your kids to the Park, these activities are a great way for them to learn about what’s happening to and in the Park. To request for these guides, call  (305) 242-7753.

To view all the wonderful plant life and wildlife you will read in these guides, go on an airboat tour! Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours give you a glimpse of the Everglades like no other. Captain Mitch has been navigating the Everglades for decades! To book an airboat ride, click Everglades airboat rides page or call 800-368-0065.