Over spring break we headed down to the Keys for 10 days of family fun. While we were there we camped for 3 nights at Dry Tortugas National Park and also visited Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park.
Destination: Everglades National Park
Date of Visit: March 2018
Kids: Cole (age 11) & Kiley (age 8)
Length of Stay: 1 Half Day
Everglades National Park is a HUGE park with 4 different entrances, miles apart. Since our time was limited we visited the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center. It’s the one that is closest to Homestead, and it was the easiest for us to get to from Key Largo.
We started out by exploring the visitor center. There were lots of hands on exhibits for the kids (and Jonathan) to check out.
The visitor center is also where you can pick up a Junior Ranger booklet. The book for Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve are all combined into 1 booklet. If you visit all 3 parks then you earn an additional patch. We didn’t have time to make it to Big Cypress, but we did mail off our booklet and will hopefully receive our badges in the mail soon.
After spending some time in the visitor center we headed out to Royal Palm for a Ranger program at the Anhinga Trail. The trail is paved and easy to walk for adults and kids.
Be award that you really need to keep an eye on little kids while you’re in the Everglades. There are alligators EVERYWHERE. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever to see them just lying on the side of the walkway.
Kids with camera are pretty much my favorite!
The Everglades is the alligator’s natural habitat and sometimes that means you have to wait for them to cross the trail before you can proceed.
We had so much fun exploring the area, there is a ton of wildlife (in addition to alligators) and the Junior Ranger booklet has a place for the kids to track what they’ve seen.
When we were done, we headed back to the visitor center so the kids could receive their badges.
We loved visiting Everglades National Park, it’s one of those places where you could easily spend a few weeks exploring the entire area. We want to go back and do some camping there eventually!
When you’re done at Everglades National Park, be sure to stop by Robert is Here for the best milkshakes you’ll ever taste. They’re made with fresh fruit and they are amazing!
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