Visit Everglades from Miami: tickets, prices, schedules

You're going to Florida, near Miami? Don’t hesitate anymore and discover the Everglades National Park, a must-see attraction in the region!

Everglades National Park is located in Florida, southeast of the United States, not far from the city of Miami. This marshy park is considered the largest subtropical natural space in North America. Visiting the Everglades from Miami is entering a national park that was created to protect a fragile biotope containing about forty endangered species: the Florida panther, the Caribbean manate or the famous American crocodile are part of it and owe their salvation to the exceptional protection enjoyed by the park.

This mangrove ecosystem also serves as a reserve for several hundred species of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish, and is powered by the Kissimmee River and Okeechobee Lake: today, the safeguarding of this incredible natural park is an issue of every moment to avoid an urbanization that would be fatal to it.

To help you visit the Everglades from Miami, we have listed all the essential information you might need: history of the place, of course, but also unmissable attractions, access plan, timetables and prices of this fabulous site.

Ready? Follow us, this is this way!

History of Everglades

It was in 1923 that the history of the Everglades National Park began: following a proposal, the state of Florida created the commission of the Everglades National Park in 1928 to assess the risks and benefits to protect this marsh area, and above all to raise funds for the purchase of additional land surfaces. Unfortunately, this research was undertaken at the very moment of Great Depression weakened the finances of an America that became economically moribund, which did not support the creation of the project! Finally, the park was designed and inaugurated by the president Harry Truman during the year 1947; Then, in the same year, violent tropical storms struck Florida and this fortuitous event led to the construction of several thousand kilometers of canals to reject water to the ocean.

Over the years, other adjacent areas have been added to the national park, which ensures its protection and ultimately accelerates the recognition of the area in reserve of international biosphere in 1976, and then declares almost all of the park in naturality zone two years later.

Finally, it was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on October 24, 1979 and recognized as a Human Zone of International Importance twelve years later. As we will discover, there are many reasons to this: and first of all, the exceptional fauna that nests in this marshland and, first of all, perfectly inhospitable. If you want to visit the Everglades from Miami, follow the guide!

What to see and do in the Everglades?

Once on site, you can visit the Everglades and its 611 000 hectares on foot, by kayak or by bike; Let us immediately reassure the potential visitor, the paths are marked and the dangerous areas (where it is possible to lose or cross the road of animals that can confuse you with their meal, for example) are as much, which makes the visit of the park safe and pleasant, even alone.

Many guides - and rangers, the park's guards - are waiting for you in the tourist offices that are enjoying the most frequented routes, but you can also visit the Everglades from Miami on some portions, alone. You can enjoy the wide variety of landscapes through a grandiose pinewood, see the famous "hammocks", these farmland areas – the only ones in the park, by the way – then a mangrove and humid meadows up to a splendid marine estuary... all in a day by bike by taking the picturesque wooden pontoons paving the marshes!

Although there is no hotel in the park, it is possible to find a campsite or to stay in a youth hostel, and to eat in one of the restaurants or stand of fresh fruit and vegetables that are playing your course. Of course, tourist area requires, you can find souvenirs to spoil your loved ones in one of the many shops that the place counts.

Visiting the Everglades from Miami is making the acquaintance of many living beings: in addition to the exceptional marsh flora, which has been able to adapt to this extremely humid environment, there are several hundred endemic animals, such as the American crocodile - not to confuse with the alligator-, the lynx, the vultures, the panther of Florida which it submerges

A tenacious legend, embodied by police TV series, attributes to the Everglades the presence of hydrogliders, these famous "airboats" with propeller that slide on the water; In fact, they are strictly forbidden within the boundaries of the national park, but you can still take a -and see alligators - in the northern area that borders the national park!

How to visit the Everglades from Miami?

Visiting the Everglades from Miami is simple: the latter has 3 entries, the main and most touristic is the Northeast entrance, the closest to this city. Named Shark Valley Visitor Center, it is located at the 36000 SW 8th Street. Miami, FL 33194 .

By car, you'll have to borrow it. Florida Turnpike and take Exit 25A; take a little less than an hour’s drive to the park from downtown Miami. Of course, you can rent a vehicle, the site with gigantic car parks to welcome visitors during the high season.

It should also be noted that many excursions are organized by tour operators and include a bus ride from your hotel to the site; perfect to visit the Everglades from Miami without taking his head.

Schedules & Site rates for Everglades

The Everglades Natural Park is open 24 hours a day, but its access is limited between 8:30 and 6:00 , opening hours of the ticket office. The cost of the entry ticket is in principle included, as well as other services, during a bus visit, and therefore depends on the travel agency managing your stay; but if you go by car, the price rises to $25 per vehicle , or $8 per person on foot or by bicycle – the entrance, good to know, being free for under 16 years .

You can also visit the Everglades from Miami for free by the Gulf Coast Visitor Center entrance, but this one is on the other side of Florida in Everglade City! We advise you, in any case, to visit the Everglades from Miami during the high season: between December and March, because temperatures are much softer and mosquitoes, much less numerous!