Everglades National Park

Florida · Established May 30, 1934

A slow river of grass flowing to a sea of mangroves

Area: 1,508,939 acres
Established: May 30, 1934
Recreation visits: 778,198 / yr
State: Florida
Highest point: About 8 ft (2.4 m) above sea level; Rock Reef Pass on the main park road is signed at 3 ft
Lowest point: Sea level, Florida Bay and Gulf of Mexico

Everglades Weather Forecast

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Seven-day outlook at the park's reference point (25.373, -80.882). Elevation changes everything in the mountains — expect colder, windier and wetter conditions on high ground.

Map of Everglades National Park

The Park

Everglades National Park protects the southern end of one of the world's most remarkable wetlands, a shallow, slow-moving sheet of fresh water that once flowed unhindered from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay. Within its 1.5 million acres lie sawgrass prairies stretching to the horizon, tree islands of tropical hardwoods, pinelands on limestone ridges, cypress domes, and the largest protected mangrove forest in the Western Hemisphere.

The park was authorized on May 30, 1934, and dedicated in 1947, the same year Marjory Stoneman Douglas published The Everglades: River of Grass, the book that taught a nation to see this landscape not as a swamp but as a living river. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States and a place where temperate and tropical worlds meet: alligators and American crocodiles share its waters, and endangered Florida panthers, West Indian manatees and wood storks find refuge here. Its global importance is recognized as a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve and a Wetland of International Importance.

Geography

The Everglades is astonishingly flat. Elevations within the park range from sea level to only about 8 feet, and the land slopes southward by just a few inches per mile. That gentle gradient governs everything: during the wet season, rain spreads across the landscape and moves slowly toward the coast as a broad sheet flow rather than in defined channels.

Two great drainages carry this water. Shark River Slough, the main 'river of grass,' flows southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico through the Shark Valley area, while the smaller Taylor Slough drains south toward Florida Bay near the Anhinga Trail. Between and beside them lie marl prairies, pine rocklands on the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, and scattered hardwood hammocks.

Toward the coast, fresh water mixes with salt in a maze of mangrove creeks, bays and islands. Florida Bay, covering more than 800 square miles, is the largest body of water in the park, while the Ten Thousand Islands and Whitewater Bay form a labyrinth along the Gulf coast. Cape Sable, at the southwestern tip of the mainland, holds some of the most remote beaches in Florida.

Landmarks

Shark ValleyAreaA tram road and observation tower rising over the sawgrass of Shark River Slough.
Shark River SloughRiverThe main channel of the river of grass, carrying fresh water southwest toward the Gulf.
Anhinga TrailAreaA boardwalk over Taylor Slough famous for alligators, anhingas and wading birds.
Taylor SloughRiverA smaller slough draining toward Florida Bay, vital in the dry season.
Pa-hay-okee OverlookAreaA raised platform with a sweeping view over sawgrass and dwarf cypress.
Mahogany HammockAreaA tree island of tropical hardwoods sheltering some of the largest mahoganies in the United States.
Paurotis PondLakeA pond ringed by clumps of paurotis palms and a seasonal rookery for wading birds.
Nine Mile PondLakeA starting point for a canoe trail through sawgrass marsh and mangrove tunnels.
Hell's BayAreaA mangrove paddling route nicknamed for being hell to get into and hell to get out of.
FlamingoAreaThe park's southernmost outpost, on the shore of Florida Bay, where manatees and crocodiles gather.
Florida BayCoastA shallow, island-studded estuary between the mainland and the Florida Keys.
Whitewater BayCoastA large brackish bay surrounded by mangrove wilderness.
Cape SableCoastThe southernmost point of the U.S. mainland, with remote shell beaches reached only by boat.
Ten Thousand IslandsIslandA maze of mangrove islands and oyster bars along the Gulf coast near Everglades City.

Geology

Southern Florida rests on a thick platform of limestone built over millions of years from the shells and skeletons of marine life in warm, shallow seas. The rocks exposed at or near the surface of the Everglades are young in geologic terms. The oldest, the Tamiami Formation of Pliocene age, is a fossil-rich mix of limestone and sand found in the park's northwest.

During the Pleistocene ice ages, sea level rose and fell many times. In the warm interglacial periods, much of southern Florida lay beneath shallow seas. The Miami Limestone, which underlies the eastern Everglades, formed during one of these high stands, when seas covered southern Florida during the last interglacial period. Near the Atlantic coast it formed from tiny rounded grains called ooids, building the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, while beneath the Everglades it is made mostly of the remains of a single species of bryozoan, a colonial marine animal.

When sea level fell during the last glaciation, the limestone was exposed to rain and dissolved into a pitted, porous surface with solution holes. As the ice melted and sea level rose again, the climate grew wetter, and over the past several thousand years the modern Everglades developed. Peat accumulated in the deeper, wetter sloughs, while calcium-rich marl formed in shallower prairies from algal mats called periphyton.

Today the landscape remains dynamic. Hurricanes push storm surges inland, depositing marl and sediment and reshaping coastlines. Rising sea level is pushing salt water farther into the freshwater marshes, while decades of drainage and canal construction to the north have altered the flow of water on which the entire system depends.

Deep time

Pliocene EpochThe fossil-rich Tamiami Formation is deposited in shallow marine and coastal environments.
Pleistocene interglacialsWarm seas repeatedly flood southern Florida, depositing the Fort Thompson Formation and Key Largo Limestone.
Last interglacial periodThe Miami Limestone forms, including the oolitic Atlantic Coastal Ridge and bryozoan limestone beneath the Everglades.
Last glacial periodLow sea levels expose the limestone, which dissolves into a pitted, porous surface.
Holocene, last several thousand yearsRising seas and a wetter climate allow peat and marl to accumulate, forming the modern Everglades.
Late 1800s to presentDrainage canals and levees redirect water flow, prompting large-scale restoration efforts.

The rocks

Tamiami FormationPliocene
A fossiliferous mixture of limestone and sand in the park's northwest.
Fort Thompson FormationPleistocene
Alternating marine and freshwater limestones beneath the Miami Limestone.
Miami LimestonePleistocene
Oolitic and bryozoan limestone underlying the eastern Everglades and pine rocklands.
Key Largo LimestonePleistocene
Fossil coral reef rock forming small islands in the park's southeast.
Everglades peatHolocene
Organic soil built from sawgrass and other plants in the deeper sloughs.
MarlHolocene
Calcium carbonate mud formed by periphyton in seasonally flooded prairies.

Trees, Plants & Ecosystems

1,061vascular plant species recorded

Sawgrass marsh and sloughsAbout 0–8 ft
Vast prairies of sawgrass cut by deeper-water sloughs with water lilies and fish.
Pine rocklandsHigher limestone ridges
Fire-adapted forests of South Florida slash pine with a diverse understory of tropical and temperate plants.
Hardwood hammocksSlightly elevated tree islands
Dense forests of mahogany, gumbo limbo and live oak rising above surrounding marsh.
Cypress domes and prairiesLow depressions
Pond cypress trees growing in dome-shaped stands in wetter areas.
Mangrove forestsCoastal fringe
Red, black and white mangroves forming a vast coastal forest and fish nursery.
Marine and estuarine watersFlorida Bay and Gulf coast
Seagrass beds, mud banks and bays supporting manatees, dolphins and sea turtles.

Trees

South Florida slash pinePinus elliottiiA fire-adapted pine dominating the rocky pinelands.
Bald cypressTaxodium distichumForms domes and strands in deeper wetlands.
West Indian mahoganySwietenia mahagoniA tropical hardwood reaching the northern edge of its range in hammocks.
Gumbo limboBursera simarubaNicknamed the tourist tree for its red, peeling bark.
Strangler figFicus aureaStarts life on another tree and gradually envelops its host.
Live oakQuercus virginianaA spreading evergreen oak of hammocks.
Florida royal palmRoystonea regiaTall, smooth-trunked palms that gave Royal Palm its name.
Cabbage palmSabal palmettoFlorida's state tree, common in hammocks.
Paurotis palmAcoelorraphe wrightiiA clustering palm of swamp edges.
Red mangroveRhizophora mangleRecognizable by its arching prop roots along the coast.
Black mangroveAvicennia germinansSends up breathing roots called pneumatophores from mud.
Pond appleAnnona glabraA small swamp tree with large, edible fruit.

Wildflowers, shrubs & other plants

SawgrassCladium jamaicenseA sedge with serrated blades that forms the famous river of grass.
Saw palmettoSerenoa repensA shrubby palm common in pinelands.
Stiff-leaved wild pineTillandsia fasciculataAn air plant bromeliad growing on trees in hammocks.
Florida butterfly orchidEncyclia tampensisAn epiphytic orchid with fragrant flowers.
White water lilyNymphaea odorataFloating flowers in sloughs and ponds.
PickerelweedPontederia cordataPurple flower spikes in marshes.
Bulltongue arrowheadSagittaria lancifoliaWhite flowers on tall stalks in wet prairies.
Muhly grassMuhlenbergia capillarisTurns marl prairies pink in autumn.
String lilyCrinum americanumFragrant white flowers along wetland edges.
Giant leather fernAcrostichum danaeifoliumA huge fern of brackish and freshwater wetlands.
CoontieZamia integrifoliaA cycad and host plant for the rare atala butterfly.
Turtle grassThalassia testudinumSeagrass beds in Florida Bay that feed manatees and sea turtles.
Floating bladderwortUtricularia foliosaA carnivorous plant trapping tiny animals in the sloughs.

Wildlife

36mammals
358birds
55reptiles
17amphibians
220fish

Mammals

Florida pantherPuma concolorAn endangered subspecies of mountain lion, rarely seen.
West Indian manateeTrichechus manatusGentle grazers of coastal waters, often seen at Flamingo.
White-tailed deerOdocoileus virginianusA small-bodied deer adapted to wet prairies.
BobcatLynx rufusHunts in hammocks and prairies.
Northern river otterLutra canadensisPlayful and common in freshwater sloughs.
RaccoonProcyon lotorAbundant in mangroves and hammocks.
Black bearUrsus americanusA rare resident of the park's more remote areas.
Common bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusOften seen in Florida Bay and coastal waters.
Marsh rabbitSylvilagus palustrisA small, dark rabbit that swims readily.
Marsh rice ratOryzomys palustrisA semi-aquatic rodent of wetland vegetation.
Hispid cotton ratSigmodon hispidusAn important prey species for hawks and snakes.

Birds

AnhingaAnhinga anhingaSpears fish underwater and dries its wings in the sun.
Wood storkMycteria americanaA large wading bird whose nesting success depends on seasonal water levels.
Roseate spoonbillPlatalea ajajaA pink wading bird with a spoon-shaped bill.
Snail kiteRostrhamus sociabilisAn endangered hawk that feeds almost entirely on apple snails.
Cape Sable seaside sparrowAmmodramus maritimusAn endangered subspecies found only in marl prairies of the southern Everglades.
Great egretArdea albaOnce hunted for its plumes, now a conservation success.
White ibisEudocimus albusProbes mud with a curved red bill.
LimpkinAramus guaraunaA wading bird known for its eerie cry.
Purple gallinulePorphyrio martinicaA colorful marsh bird that walks on lily pads.
Tricolored heronEgretta tricolorA slender heron of shallow wetlands.
Bald eagleHaliaeetus leucocephalusNests in coastal mangroves.
OspreyPandion haliaetusBuilds nests on dead trees and channel markers.
Red-shouldered hawkButeo lineatusA common hawk calling from hammocks.
Black skimmerRynchops nigerSkims the water surface with its lower bill.

Reptiles & amphibians

American alligatorAlligator mississippiensisDigs 'gator holes' that hold water for wildlife during the dry season.
American crocodileCrocodylus acutusA threatened species found in brackish waters around Florida Bay.
Eastern indigo snakeDrymarchon coraisA threatened, glossy black snake of pinelands.
CottonmouthAgkistrodon piscivorusA venomous snake of freshwater wetlands.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnakeCrotalus adamanteusThe largest venomous snake in North America.
Florida softshell turtleApalone feroxA flat, leathery-shelled turtle of sloughs.
Pig frogRana grylioIts piglike grunts echo from marshes at night.
Green treefrogHyla cinereaA bright green frog common on vegetation.

Fish

Florida garLepisosteus platyrhincusEasily seen from the Anhinga Trail boardwalk.
Largemouth bassMicropterus salmoidesA top predator of freshwater sloughs.
TarponMegalops atlanticusA silvery game fish of coastal waters.
Common snookCentropomus undecimalisA prized fish of mangrove shorelines.
Smalltooth sawfishPristis pectinataAn endangered ray with a toothed snout, found in park estuaries.
Florida flagfishJordanella floridaeA small killifish of shallow marshes.
Eastern mosquitofishGambusia holbrookiA tiny fish that feeds on mosquito larvae.
Spotted seatroutCynoscion nebulosusA popular fish of Florida Bay's seagrass beds.
Red drumSciaenops ocellatusA copper-colored fish with a spot near its tail.
Gray snapperLutjanus griseusCommon around mangrove roots.

Species totals are the park's certified NPSpecies checklist (occurrence: present).

Climate & When to Visit

The Everglades has a tropical savanna climate with two distinct seasons. The dry season, from December to mid-May, brings mild temperatures, low humidity and little rain. As water levels drop, wildlife concentrates around remaining pools, making it the best time for viewing.

The wet season, from mid-May to November, is hot and humid with near-daily afternoon thunderstorms. Most of the year's rain falls during these months, flooding the prairies and sloughs. It is also hurricane season, and powerful storms such as Donna in 1960, Andrew in 1992, Wilma in 2005 and Irma in 2017 have reshaped the park's forests and coastlines.

Spring
Late dry season: warm and sunny, with water levels at their lowest and wildlife concentrated near water.
Summer
Hot, humid wet season with daily thunderstorms, high water and abundant mosquitoes.
Autumn
Wet season continues into November; peak hurricane risk in September and October.
Winter
Dry season: mild, sunny days and cool nights, with the fewest insects and the most visitors.

Weather hazards

Mosquitoes: Mosquitoes can be intense in the wet season and in mangrove areas; bring repellent and protective clothing.
Hurricanes: Monitor forecasts from June to November; the park may close during storms.
Lightning: Summer thunderstorms bring frequent lightning; seek shelter in a vehicle or building.
Heat and sun: Carry water and wear sun protection, as shade is scarce on prairies and water.
Wildlife: Keep at least 15 feet from alligators and crocodiles and never feed wildlife.

Everglades Questions

When is the best time to visit Everglades National Park?

The dry season, from December through April, offers mild weather, fewer mosquitoes and the best wildlife viewing. Summer brings heat, thunderstorms and insects, but also lush landscapes and fewer visitors.

What is the weather like in the Everglades?

Winters are mild and dry, with temperatures typically in the 60s to 80s °F. Summers are hot and humid, with daily thunderstorms and the risk of hurricanes.

Where is the best place to see alligators?

The Anhinga Trail near the Royal Palm Visitor Center and the Shark Valley tram road are excellent places to see alligators, especially during the dry season.

Can you see crocodiles in the Everglades?

Yes. American crocodiles live in the brackish and saltwater areas of the park, especially around Flamingo and Florida Bay. The Everglades is one of the few places where alligators and crocodiles coexist.

Why is the Everglades called a river of grass?

Fresh water moves slowly southward across a wide, shallow expanse of sawgrass rather than in a single channel. Marjory Stoneman Douglas popularized the phrase in her 1947 book.

How did the Everglades form?

The Everglades rests on limestone formed in shallow seas during the Pleistocene. As sea level rose and the climate became wetter over the last several thousand years, peat and marl accumulated, creating today's wetlands.

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Sources: www.nps.gov · www.nps.gov · irmaservices.nps.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · Official NPS site