Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for November 7, 2024. This week we’re featuring a park that protects the largest tropical wilderness in the United States.
Everglades National Park
Location
Southern Florida, United States
Claim to fame
Everglades National Park is the third largest national park in the contiguous US and the first US national park established to protect a fragile ecosystem. The park was founded in 1947, after attempts to drain its waters ignited an uproar of protests calling for its protection.
The park is 1.5 million acres (6,100 square km) of tropical wetland and is designated a Wetland of International Importance, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a World Heritage Site, one of only three sites worldwide to be on all three lists.
Reason to visit
With over 300 bird species, Everglades National Park is a birders paradise. The park is the most important breeding site for tropical wading birds in North America, as well as being home to threatened or endangered species like manatees, Florida panthers, and the American crocodile.
Visitors can explore the park via boat tours or paddling trails, the best ways to view a waterscape. The most popular time to visit is December through April, when temperatures are milder and there’s less rain.
Wild Fact
The Everglades contain thousands of hammocks–small islands amid the sloughs and waterways of the park. These isolated parcels of land are important habitats for both plants and wildlife. Hardwood trees, like mahogany, gumbo-limbo, and other tropical species, thrive here and provide a shaded oasis for animals like tree frogs, owls and woodpeckers, and even Florida black bears.
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