Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Park entry | $30 per vehicle (7-day) |
| Shark Valley tram | $30 adult |
| Standard airboat tour | $30-45 |
| Best time | December-April |
| Worst time | May-October (mosquitoes, heat) |
| Distance from Miami | 30-50 miles |
| Typical day | 9-10 hours |
Everglades National Park was established in 1947 and is the largest tropical wilderness in the US. It covers 1.5 million acres of sawgrass marsh, cypress swamp, mangrove estuary and pine rockland — all essentially a slow-moving shallow river flowing south from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay.
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Shark Valley vs Royal Palm
These are the two main national park sections accessible as day trips from Miami. They offer very different experiences.
| Section | Entry | Distance from Miami | Best for |
|---|
| Shark Valley | $30/vehicle | 42 miles / 50 min | Tram tour, observation tower |
| Royal Palm (Ernest Coe) | $30/vehicle | 50 miles / 1 hr | Anhinga Trail, visitor center |
| Flamingo | $30/vehicle | 80 miles / 1hr 45 | Full southern peninsula, boats |
| Gulf Coast (Everglades City) | $30/vehicle | 90 miles / 2 hrs | 10,000 Islands boat tours |
Shark Valley features a 15-mile paved loop road accessible only by tram ($30), bike ($20 rental) or on foot — no private cars. Halfway around is a 65-foot observation tower with panoramic swamp views. Alligators line the road constantly in dry season.
Royal Palm (Ernest F. Coe entrance) is the southern main entrance. From here you can drive 38 miles through the park all the way to Flamingo on Florida Bay. The Anhinga Trail near the entrance is the single best short wildlife walk in the park.
If you have only one day: do Royal Palm (Anhinga Trail) in the morning + lunch in Homestead + Shark Valley tram in the afternoon. Both sections, ~9 hours door to door.
Airboat Tours (Important)
This is the most misunderstood part of the Everglades. Airboats are prohibited inside Everglades National Park — they operate on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation and surrounding state lands, mostly along US-41 Tamiami Trail.
- Gator Park — $32.99, closest to Miami, family-friendly
- Everglades Safari Park — $34, includes wildlife show
- Coopertown Airboats — $29, oldest operator (1945)
- Buffalo Tiger's (Miccosukee) — $35, indigenous-owned, different marsh area
- Everglades City (Captain Jack's, etc.) — $45-65, longer tours, mangroves
Standard airboat tours last 30-45 minutes and launch every 15-20 minutes on the hour. Morning tours (before 11am) are cooler and wildlife is more active. The captain typically stops the boat for close alligator viewing.
Some airboat operators have been criticized for baiting alligators with food for photo ops — this is illegal and harmful to the gators. The Miccosukee and Gulf Coast operators generally have better conservation reputations.
Best Time to Visit
The Everglades has two seasons, and they could not be more different.
| Season | Months | Experience |
|---|
| Dry | Dec-April | Ideal — 65-80°F, few bugs, wildlife concentrated |
| Wet | May-November | Brutal — 90°F+, mosquitoes, daily storms, wildlife dispersed |
- Best month: February — perfect temperature, dry, minimal rain
- Good months: December, January, March, April
- Mosquito warning: May through October, especially evenings
- Thunderstorm season: mid-May through September, afternoons
- Hurricane season: June through November, watch forecasts
Dry-season wildlife viewing is genuinely spectacular — because surface water shrinks to a few remaining ponds and sloughs, birds and alligators concentrate at viewing platforms. In peak wet season, the same animals disperse over thousands of square miles and you may see very little.
Anhinga Trail
The Anhinga Trail is a 0.8-mile paved and boardwalk loop near the Royal Palm visitor center. It's the single best short walk in the entire park — you are virtually guaranteed to see alligators, anhingas (the snake-like diving bird the trail is named for), turtles, wading birds and often otters.
- Length: 0.8 miles loop, flat, wheelchair-accessible
- Time: 45-75 minutes with wildlife stops
- Best time: early morning (7-9am) or late afternoon
- Wildlife guaranteed: alligators (10+), anhingas, herons, turtles
- Often seen: otters, ibises, grebes, osprey, red-shouldered hawks
- Adjacent: Gumbo Limbo Trail (hammock forest, free)
Keep at least 15 feet from any alligator. They are wild and unpredictable — especially females near nests (April-June) or males during mating season (April-May).
Wildlife You'll See
On an average dry-season day visiting Shark Valley + Anhinga Trail, expect to see:
- 15-40 American alligators (trailside and in ponds)
- Dozens of wading birds — great egret, great blue heron, roseate spoonbill, wood stork
- Anhingas drying wings on branches
- Red-shouldered hawks and osprey
- Turtles — softshell, cooter, slider
- Occasional American crocodile (very rare, Flamingo area only)
- Rarely: Florida panther, manatee, dolphin (southern/coastal sections)
The Everglades is the only place on earth where American alligators and American crocodiles coexist — the brackish water at Flamingo is the overlap zone. Crocs are noticeably larger and have a narrower snout.
Getting There
You need a rental car. There is no public transportation to the Everglades from Miami.
- Miami to Shark Valley: 42 miles via US-41 (Tamiami Trail) west, ~50 min
- Miami to Royal Palm/Ernest Coe: 50 miles south to Homestead, then west, ~1 hr
- Miami to Flamingo: 80 miles, 1 hr 45 min (from Royal Palm add 50 min south)
- Rental car for a day: $50-90
- Fuel for full day: $15-25
Bring: insect repellent (DEET), water (no services between stops), sunscreen, polarized sunglasses (cuts water glare to see alligators below surface), binoculars, long sleeves for mosquito season. Fuel up in Homestead — no gas stations inside the park.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Park entry | $30 per vehicle (7-day) |
| Shark Valley tram | $30 adult |
| Standard airboat tour | $30-45 |
| Best time | December-April |
| Worst time | May-October (mosquitoes, heat) |
| Distance from Miami | 30-50 miles |
| Typical day | 9-10 hours |
Everglades National Park was established in 1947 and is the largest tropical wilderness in the US. It covers 1.5 million acres of sawgrass marsh, cypress swamp, mangrove estuary and pine rockland — all essentially a slow-moving shallow river flowing south from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay.
🧮
USA Trip Cost Calculator
Planning a Miami trip? Get a personalised Miami travel budget — Everglades tours, South Beach, hotels and rental car costs.
Shark Valley vs Royal Palm
These are the two main national park sections accessible as day trips from Miami. They offer very different experiences.
| Section | Entry | Distance from Miami | Best for |
|---|
| Shark Valley | $30/vehicle | 42 miles / 50 min | Tram tour, observation tower |
| Royal Palm (Ernest Coe) | $30/vehicle | 50 miles / 1 hr | Anhinga Trail, visitor center |
| Flamingo | $30/vehicle | 80 miles / 1hr 45 | Full southern peninsula, boats |
| Gulf Coast (Everglades City) | $30/vehicle | 90 miles / 2 hrs | 10,000 Islands boat tours |
Shark Valley features a 15-mile paved loop road accessible only by tram ($30), bike ($20 rental) or on foot — no private cars. Halfway around is a 65-foot observation tower with panoramic swamp views. Alligators line the road constantly in dry season.
Royal Palm (Ernest F. Coe entrance) is the southern main entrance. From here you can drive 38 miles through the park all the way to Flamingo on Florida Bay. The Anhinga Trail near the entrance is the single best short wildlife walk in the park.
If you have only one day: do Royal Palm (Anhinga Trail) in the morning + lunch in Homestead + Shark Valley tram in the afternoon. Both sections, ~9 hours door to door.
Airboat Tours (Important)
This is the most misunderstood part of the Everglades. Airboats are prohibited inside Everglades National Park — they operate on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation and surrounding state lands, mostly along US-41 Tamiami Trail.
- Gator Park — $32.99, closest to Miami, family-friendly
- Everglades Safari Park — $34, includes wildlife show
- Coopertown Airboats — $29, oldest operator (1945)
- Buffalo Tiger's (Miccosukee) — $35, indigenous-owned, different marsh area
- Everglades City (Captain Jack's, etc.) — $45-65, longer tours, mangroves
Standard airboat tours last 30-45 minutes and launch every 15-20 minutes on the hour. Morning tours (before 11am) are cooler and wildlife is more active. The captain typically stops the boat for close alligator viewing.
Some airboat operators have been criticized for baiting alligators with food for photo ops — this is illegal and harmful to the gators. The Miccosukee and Gulf Coast operators generally have better conservation reputations.
Best Time to Visit
The Everglades has two seasons, and they could not be more different.
| Season | Months | Experience |
|---|
| Dry | Dec-April | Ideal — 65-80°F, few bugs, wildlife concentrated |
| Wet | May-November | Brutal — 90°F+, mosquitoes, daily storms, wildlife dispersed |
- Best month: February — perfect temperature, dry, minimal rain
- Good months: December, January, March, April
- Mosquito warning: May through October, especially evenings
- Thunderstorm season: mid-May through September, afternoons
- Hurricane season: June through November, watch forecasts
Dry-season wildlife viewing is genuinely spectacular — because surface water shrinks to a few remaining ponds and sloughs, birds and alligators concentrate at viewing platforms. In peak wet season, the same animals disperse over thousands of square miles and you may see very little.
Anhinga Trail
The Anhinga Trail is a 0.8-mile paved and boardwalk loop near the Royal Palm visitor center. It's the single best short walk in the entire park — you are virtually guaranteed to see alligators, anhingas (the snake-like diving bird the trail is named for), turtles, wading birds and often otters.
- Length: 0.8 miles loop, flat, wheelchair-accessible
- Time: 45-75 minutes with wildlife stops
- Best time: early morning (7-9am) or late afternoon
- Wildlife guaranteed: alligators (10+), anhingas, herons, turtles
- Often seen: otters, ibises, grebes, osprey, red-shouldered hawks
- Adjacent: Gumbo Limbo Trail (hammock forest, free)
Keep at least 15 feet from any alligator. They are wild and unpredictable — especially females near nests (April-June) or males during mating season (April-May).
Wildlife You'll See
On an average dry-season day visiting Shark Valley + Anhinga Trail, expect to see:
- 15-40 American alligators (trailside and in ponds)
- Dozens of wading birds — great egret, great blue heron, roseate spoonbill, wood stork
- Anhingas drying wings on branches
- Red-shouldered hawks and osprey
- Turtles — softshell, cooter, slider
- Occasional American crocodile (very rare, Flamingo area only)
- Rarely: Florida panther, manatee, dolphin (southern/coastal sections)
The Everglades is the only place on earth where American alligators and American crocodiles coexist — the brackish water at Flamingo is the overlap zone. Crocs are noticeably larger and have a narrower snout.
Getting There
You need a rental car. There is no public transportation to the Everglades from Miami.
- Miami to Shark Valley: 42 miles via US-41 (Tamiami Trail) west, ~50 min
- Miami to Royal Palm/Ernest Coe: 50 miles south to Homestead, then west, ~1 hr
- Miami to Flamingo: 80 miles, 1 hr 45 min (from Royal Palm add 50 min south)
- Rental car for a day: $50-90
- Fuel for full day: $15-25
Bring: insect repellent (DEET), water (no services between stops), sunscreen, polarized sunglasses (cuts water glare to see alligators below surface), binoculars, long sleeves for mosquito season. Fuel up in Homestead — no gas stations inside the park.