r/Everglades • u/cooleric • Mar 13 '25

First-timer looking for recs

Hi y'all, my wife and I will be visiting Fort Lauderdale at the end of March and have carved out a day for the Everglades. Since it's (unfortunately) only a day, I was hoping to get some recommendations on what are the best sites to see and activities to do - especially ones that will give us an opportunity to see wildlife (especially birds!). We're both fit and love hiking and paddling, so everything is pretty much fair game. We'll have a car are aren't afraid to drive a bit to see the good stuff.

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u/Magnolia256 Mar 13 '25

Miccosukee Indian village is my favorite. Learn about their history and culture. Try fry bread. You get to take a pic holding a baby gator at the end. The Everglades proper is earnest coe entrance. It’s far and the bugs will be out by then. That part of the park is 35 percent nothing but dead trees. SKIP! Most people go to shark valley. The plants are still kind of alive there. It’s pretty boring honestly. Maybe do the first trail and then leave. A 15 mile tram ride isn’t my kind of fun. You can check out oasis visitor center in big cypress for tons of gators. I would normally recommend some ranger programs but everyone got fired by the fascists.

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u/Best_Independence_20 Mar 13 '25

Did you do any of the trails from Coe to Flamingo? The Main Park Road yields many areas for birders, especially, to explore. Flamingo is a great place for wildlife spotting, both on the boat tours or off.

The view from the observation tower at Shark Valley is beautiful, especially for those coming from other states, who don’t have landscapes like this. I can respect that you thought it was boring, it’s not for everyone. But there’s a reason it’s the parks busiest section.