Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

The nature here is awesome tons of birds, alligators and possibly minks. The walk to Fakahatchee Hilton is 4 miles round trip. It’s well shaded. Bring water and a snack.

This location is a beautiful haven characterized by its native natural surroundings. It offers numerous fishing spots, making it an ideal choice for fishing enthusiasts. Additionally, visitors can enjoy various trails for hiking and exploring the area's scenic beauty.

This is a secret, but I’ll share it!! When the South Florida weather shows a high of 74 ( no rain) -We love to go to Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park for a short hike. It’s Florida’s largest state preserve. We follow that up with a stone crab lunch feast in Everglades City. Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park Is the only known bald-cypress + royal-palm swamp forest in the world. This coexistence of (temperate cypress) and (tropical palm) makes Fakahatchee a rare subtropical “ecotone” forest. No other location worldwide has this canopy mix. Highest concentration of native orchids and bromeliads in North America. Over 47 native orchids and 30 + bromeliads flourish here; many are Caribbean species that barely reach U.S. soil. Everglades City, although just a small fishing village, is known as the stone crab capital of the world. Most of the Stone Crabs served in restaurants in Florida come from the fishing boats of Everglades City. When you enter the park grounds, immediately to the right there are bathrooms and a place to to pay the park fee/donation in a drop box. You then should drive about 15 minutes on a bumpy dirt road to get to the main hiking stretch. It’s a long hiking grass road. No elevation and not strenuous. As you hike, you are surrounded by the cypress swamp on both sides. We always stop our hike at a little wooden cabin with a dock. If you walk past the little outhouse there are usually gators sunning on a grassy patch.

We especially loved the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk and exhibits. There were man y types of birds and plenty of gators including a mama with several babies. When we returned there were great volunteers with hands on exhibits and informational pamphlets about the park at the overlook.

Its really cool area. But unfortauntley if you dont have a truck or something similer. You wont be able to down the gravel road into the actual park. There are huge crater and holes in the gravel road so i couldnt get to the trails lol. Id give it 5 stars if they fix the road..

Very primitive park and trails but nice and clean!

This is a great park to cruise through til the road ends. You can get out and take a hike down the road, or there are a couple of short hikes deeper into the park. The SUPER BIG DRAWBACK are the mosquitoes. Bug spray helps but they will find any piece of flesh not sprayed. I suggest spray and head nets like the rangers wear there. Also big big grasshoppers on the road in.

We drove the 6 miles to hike the East Main Tram Trail. The road is rough, we did less than 10 mph so it took almost an hour to get out there. The hike is 2 miles to the cabin (private property), but a nice hike. At the cabin the trail splits, to the left there were a ton of big alligators sun bathing which was cool to see.

We drove down for a few days to enjoy the Everglades, and had made reservations months before this trip. I hadn't thought about the fact that Hurricane Ian had been through the area, so we were super disappointed that the boardwalk was closed. We did a hike, although I can't remember the name of the trail. It was a 2 mile hike to a cabin, which had a small pier, where we got to see lots of alligators in the pond. The trail was a bit rough, as it hadn't been cleared for awhile.and the hurricane did some damage. There wasn't much to see on the trail, but we did see some fresh bear scat, which worried us. This trail wasn't all that great, but at least we saw some alligators.

This is one of Florida's greatest attractions. I don't want to say much because I don't want to spoil your adventure. There is more nature in this location than one can handle. In order to see the largest state park in Florida, it will require at least 2-3 days. There is hiking, biking, and kayaking available. The admission is only $3.00 (self-pay). The visitor center was not open while we were visiting, not sure why. Jane's scenic route is a dirt road and has a 10 mile an hour speed limit. Easy to find, well-marked signs. Beware of gators, keep your eyes open and stay alert. We will have to come back to check out the boardwalk (different location) and the West trail next time.

At 85,000 acres Fakahatchee Strand Preserve is Florida's largest state preserve. There is two places to access the preserve, the Big Cypress Bend boardwalk off US 41 west of Everglades City or the 11 mile Janes Scenic Drive off of SR 29. The road is named after the three Janes brothers who had a tomato farm in the area in the 1930's. They also operated a general store and post office. I chose to explore Janes Scenic Drive which is a narrow gravel road which used to be an old logging road for taking out the old growth cypress trees in the 1940's. The drive starts at the rangers station where you can deposit your $3 fee in the honor system box. The road ends at the boundary with the Picayune Strand State Forest where you will have to turn around and go back. The road has a lot of ruts and potholes and this is not a place you want to be stuck in although I did periodically see rangers in trucks driving down the road. It should not be traveled after a heavy rain. I definitely did not have cell phone coverage. As you drive you will see different trams which are trails that allowed the loggers to reach the largest trees in the back. These trams are now used as hiking trails although it is not recommended that you hike alone. This one of the most untamed parts in Big Cypress. As a result it is teaming with plants and animals. On the strand you will find royal palms, bald cypress, bromeliads, ferns, and orchids including the rare ghost orchid. Fakathatchee Strand was featured in the book, The Ghost Orchid by Susan Orlean. The book tells about the arrest of John Laroche, a horticulturist who was caught poaching the ghost orchid while working for the Seminole tribe in the Fakahatchee Strand. The strand is also home to many threatened and endangered animals such as the Florida Panther, black bear, fox squirrel, white tailed deer, raccoons, and opossums. Birds include red shoulder hawks, wood storks, bald eagles, and osprey can be found here. During my drive I saw several alligators, anhingas, and cormorants. I wasn't sure what I was going down or I might have been a little more apprehensive. If you are not careful you could risk getting stuck. During certain times of the year a tram tour for $25 is offered as well as ranger and biologist led hikes. If I went again I would take the 2.5 hour tram tour. A tour would provide the most information while saving the wear on your car. No matter how you chose to do it, the Fakahatchee Strand is a wild place to explore.

Ver tranquil state park. If you want a relaxing stroll through the wilderness, this is the place to go. There's beautiful flowers, greenery, ponds and anything outdoors. I saw the most beautiful cricket and named him Jiminy. Lol. Had a lovely time with my family here and there's only a $3 fee per car up to eight people.

Not for everyone! This is a unique but of Florida. Not exactly pristine... the entire tract was once used for logging, and the roads you'll travel on to access this remote area are in fact those clogging roads. We visited during a relatively dry period, yet one of the most promising trails was under water. We'll have to return in January perhaps to get access to that. The roads are definitely dirt. Lots of ruts, mud, rocks, and pot holes, they do keep up some level of maintenance evidenced in areas filled with gravel. We visited in our Prius, and with some careful aim and strategy, we were able to travel the entire length to where the road farther is closed off. Then we went to walk a bit more, only to find the path blocked by a large alligator. This is, as I said, a fairly unique place... there's a Royal Palm forest... perhaps the only such natural accessible stand. The tannin-stained water runs swiftly in this area, and you can get closeup with the intricate airplane and cypress understory. There are also lots of native butterflies here. The remoteness and limited access culls any crowds, so you'll probably see few other visitors. Make sure to stop at the info house on the way in... there's a bit there about the history of the area.

Fakahatchee Cypress is one of the largest state forests. There are two entrances. I did both. Located off State Road 41 is the Fakahatchee Big Cypress Bend Board Walk. There is some parking right off 41. There are no amenities except for 2 porta potties. The walk begins to the east of a small Native American village. There are ample signs and the trail has an elevated board walk. Follow the Boardwalk and you will see bald eagles nesting, kites, and osprey. At the end of the board walk there is a heron lake filled with ibis, herons, and while we were there a barrel owl. There are gators and turkey cultures throughout. The board walk is short about a mile in each direction. It is lined with Sabel Palms and big cypress, oak and live oak. The whole park is 19 miles long and 5 miles across. The other entrance is up SR 29. Here you pass a ranger and forestry fire tower. The road is an old logging trail and is named for the Janes brothers who had a general store and post office here into the 90s. The road is gravel and rutted. It goes all the way to the Picayune Park, where you have to turn around. Other than the ranger station there are no amenities. The drive is beautiful with scenes of prairie and old hammock. Entrance fee is $3 on the honor system. Tips: bring water and a good pair of binoculars, do not bring a car like an Audi A4 that I saw on Jane's Scenic drive struggling through the drive in the dry season. I had a 4x4 Land Rover; so obviously I waived as I drove by.

As a state park this one is very unsupervised. The Cypress Bend Boardwalk was well maintained and refurbished after Hurricane Irma. Also new to the park is a nice pavilion just before you enter the boardwalk. What disappointed me the most was the trash that was thrown into the various pools of water. No supervision means idiots get to throw their way to heavy empty plastic bottles into the waterways. While these type of parks are hit and miss as to what you will see I mostly missed. The wildlife was more than likely dodging the plastic bottles being thrown at them than wanting to put on a show. :) The boardwalk is a very short 1/2 mile walk so you can visit and not worry about walking way too far.

The second year in a row Nicole and I came to volunteer in trail maintenance for Bob Becker's Everglades Ultra series which consist of a 25k, 50k, and 50 mile race through this magnificent park each February. More info on the following site: http://www.evergladesultras.com. Each year volunteers and park staff maintain 70 miles of trails for the race depending on the route of the runs, which can vary each year depending on the water levels of this large wetland. Some of the trails are part of the old tram system that criss crossed the park a century earlier when trains went into the park to harvest Cyprus, which was used to construct boats due to its resistance to its resilience to repel water and mold. Although it's tough work using machete and tree clippers it's always worth the effort for the amazing wild life encounters. During our visit this time we encountered an enormous gator just sunning itself on the side of the Janes Scenic drive, and earlier on a more adventurous note, we saw vultures picking apart a possum. On the drive over to the park on Hwy 40 snowy egrets littered the vegetation on the canals. Interestingly, this is just a fraction of what life was life before man intervened. On this trip, I was sure to also ask what kinds of poisonous plants I needed to avoid---On last years outing I developed a nasty sore on my arm. Dino showed me which plants were bad, including poison ivy and hogs plum with its nasty thorns. Armed with this knowledge I steered clear of this defensive vegetation.

We drove down the 6 mile trail all the way to the end. I would not advise doing it on a rainy day since you can't tell how deep some of the potholes are. We did it without much effort and seen some unique fishing spots along the way.

Beautiful place been coming here for years. But this last trip half way down the trail it was blocked by a new gate that only allows you to walk or bike. The road use to take you all the way through the forest and back over the bridge towards golden gate estates. Now its blocked the state was required to maintain the road but they haven't. Anyone who is to old to walk or is wheel chair bound can't even go around the new gate. What a shame.

We drove through the Everglades and stopped here to see alligators. We saw baby alligators right away. There is a nice walk along the boardwalk where we saw some bigger ones. It wasn't crowded at all like some of the other places. Definitely worth the time to stop.

I am a resident of the Miami area and a nature lover. Although the two might seem contradictory, I try to get my fix of nature on the weekends. After frequent back to back visits to the Everglades, I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone and try visiting this preserve. Be advised, it was difficult to find. A phone GPS will help get you within two miles of the preserve but then you are on your own and that is where it gets tricky. Make sure you look at Google maps prior to leaving or call and speak with a knowledgeable ranger. The visitor center is also hard to find: if you see stacked up stones and a lake you are across from it! Make sure you get maps and speak to a ranger otherwise you will not know where the hot spots are. Nothing is marked off but it makes it all the more worthwhile. The bike/car path is shaded and incredibly serene. Be aware that some parts of the path are muddy and difficult to bike through, but these are the minority. I do not recommend doing this in a motorized vehicle because you will miss a lot of the wildlife. I COULD sit here and list everything we saw but I feel that would belittle the experience. But to give to a brief insight, we saw from the tiniest cray fish to the largest bald eagle. I SWEAR I heard a panther's rumbling. I would recommend getting an early morning start and doing about 6-10 miles biking to get the most out of this trip. Leave a few hours of sunlight to walk the boardwalk (about 7 miles away). All in all, this place was amazingly beautiful nature and I would hate for any of you to miss it! Make a day of it.

I hope I can clear up any confusion as I was very confused when researching places to go in the Everglades. The Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is west of Big Cypress State Park, however Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park has a boardwalk called Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. Confused? I was too. The address for the boardwalk is around 27020 Tamiami Trail, Naples, FL 34114. If you search for Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk it usually takes you to Big Cypress State Park and the welcome center, which is about 10 mils east of the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk. Now that all that is out of the way, onto the review. We visited the boardwalk towards the end of June. I had read that the winter months were better to look at, but we were down in the area and decided to give it a try. The small parking lot they had only had one other car in it. We applied some bug spray and made our way to the trail. There is a long, gravel driveway-ish path that takes you back to the boardwalk itself. Small creeks and ponds are along both sides of the gravel path. Take a moment and look around in them. We saw a bunch of different fish, some turtles, a frog, and even a alligator in the pond that is adjacent to the entrance of the boardwalk. The boardwalk is 2,300 feet one way, so walking to the end and back is a little under a mile. Most of the boardwalk is shaded by large trees, which helps cutdown on the sun in the heat. It also cuts down on the breeze so it's still a little hot on hot days. It looks like they've recently updated some of the boardwalk because there was newer wood on some sections. I think I saw a couple spots to sit on the way to the end, and at the end of the boardwalk is a large pond and you can sit and walked stuff there. We saw an alligator far off in the distance in that pond, barely. All we saw was the tip of the head and the snout sticking out. It's amazing to see those thing just sit there motionless for hours at a time. There is a spot along the trail that is marked for you to look at a rather large eagles nest. We used a zoom lens with our camera and saw the nest but no eagles, maybe they were out to lunch. We saw a bunch of orange grasshoppers that were HUGE. We also saw tons of lizards and a couple that were blue, very pretty. Overall I enjoyed this place and next time we are down this way in the wintertime I think we will come back and compare the two.

My "tour" group stopped by Fakahatchee on the way to Wooten's airboats and I'm so glad we did! Watch out for alligators, as there was halfway into the walkway when I came here! The boardwalk is a nice walk on a beautiful day - it's well kept and very clean. There's signs placed along the boardwalk with details on different kinds of nature you can find here. It's pretty peaceful and really cool to see all the wild animals (herons, white flamingos, alligators, etc) and interesting fauna. At the end of the boardwalk is water/pond area where you might see some alligators. It's a nice stop for a photo.

The Cypress Bend Boardwalk off US41 is our favorite part of the park. A nice boardwalk, where you normally see something. Over the years of taking the boardwalk we have seen alligators, various herons, egrets, turtles, hawks, eagles, snakes and plants,, including flowers. It is educational and fun to take this boardwalk.

As Billy H. stated in his review, this park is confusing because it is divided and one section, which is where the boardwalk is located, is very far from what is officially called the "Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park." In fact, it is not walkable from the park. It is because of this confusion that I assumed that the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk was part of the Big Cypress National Preserve (the name itself and the location within Big Cypress make it seem that way), and therefore, the pictures I took some time ago and posted on Yelp are located in the listing for "Big Cypress National Preserve" rather than "Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park." My friend and I followed the GPS to Fakahatchee and ended in a rather remote property. We parked at the visitor's center, hoping to get a map that would explain the park and the hiking trails and there was not a single map in sight. The visitor center was closed in the middle of the day on a Saturday, and there was no one to ask. Frustrated about this, we drove around and ended up on some lakefront property that had "no trespassing" signs and hurriedly turned around before someone could come out with a gun or a menacing attitude. We were completely lost and confused at this point. I went to the Yelp reviews and saw Nick Z's review that mentioned Janes Scenic Drive. We assumed that the long, winding dusty, dirt road ahead was it and drove on. Checking our location on the GPS confirmed this was, in fact, Janes Scenic Drive. Along the way, we ran into plenty of alligators, as the visitor's center had a posted sign that due to the cold water temperatures, caution must be exercised as alligators would be out of the water and could turn up at a moment's notice. They weren't kidding! We also saw a Red-Shouldered Hawk and a beautiful Barred Owl, which I had never seen before, and offered great photo opportunities. We kept driving, hoping to find some walking trails along the 11-mile dirt road. Some of the potholes were huge and my friend kept worrying about damaging his car. We had to drive extremely slow, and the lane is barely wide enough to make two cars fit very tightly side by side. We drove and drove, and ended up at neighboring Picayune Strand State Forest. It was extremely disappointing to not have had a chance to walk, but we turned around nonetheless and headed back on Janes Scenic Drive. Along the way, I saw a couple of men on a golf cart that looked like they either worked here or lived nearby, and we inquired about the trails. He said there were two trails (East Main Tram and West Main Tram), both of which were long (about 8 miles or more), and full of mosquitoes. They are not marked and they are rather obscure, hidden behind a fence. I wanted to get some exercise and venture deep within the park, hoping to get better wildlife opportunities, so I bathed myself in OFF Deep Woods and ventured in. We didn't even walk 5 minutes and encountered a large alligator blocking the path in a horizontal manner. It did not want to move and we had to turn around and give up, since we did not want to harass it. My friend and I drove out and decided to read up on Google about the boardwalk, as we had no idea the boardwalk was out of the park itself at that time and since we had driven up and down the Janes Scenic Drive without seeing a boardwalk, we wanted to understand what had happened. When we arrived to the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, we realized we had been here in the past and thought it was part of the Big Cypress National Preserve, as mentioned above. Still, since we wanted to get some physical activity, we decided to get out. We saw a mama alligator carefully guarding her baby alligators nearby, and watching anyone who got too close to them. The babies made for some great pictures! Also along the boardwalk, we saw the eagle nest we had seen in the past, and which I had photographed in the past, but this time, there was not an eagle in sight. I could hear woodpeckers, but they were too deep within the forest and away from the boardwalk so we could not access them or see them. Since we paid to enter the "other" Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park (the one with the official sign) and did not get to really leave the vehicle, we felt we paid for nothing. Had they mentioned that the boardwalk is really the only place to walk on and that it was away from the main park where you pay, we could have avoided wasting time. If they aren't going to keep enough maps for people to grab, then their website should at least make it clear that there's no real walking trails in this park and to head to the boardwalk instead. If you want to see wildlife and walk at the same time, I feel there are more than enough options elsewhere west of the Tamiami Trail, or down south if you go to Everglades National Park, and you will be less disappointed.

Great scenic drive through the everglades and old Florida. No cell reception, just you and nature. Dirt road, kinda rough, but doable with most cars or trucks. So much nature and flora. Peaceful, quiet, hardly anyone you will see. Lots of mosquitos, so be prepared if you venture out of your car. The scenic drive goes from close to US 41 and SR 29 to rural Golden Gate estates. It is quite a long scenic journey where you can see bears, deer, birds, snakes, the skunk ape, panthers, and so many plants. It is a one lane dirt road with pot holes and mud and dust. Your car will get dirty and bottom out. It is so cool and everyone should do it, just to experience the way Florida used to be.

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is known as the Amazon of North America, and for good reason. With 14 bromeliad species and more than 40 orchid species, it's easy to forget you're in the continental US here, especially if you take a swamp walk deep into the park where you're sure to see even more nature in this subtropical paradise. There are a few different places to get a taste of the park -- Janes Scenic Drive is an 11 mile road through the park with plenty of opportunities to see wildlife. The road is a bit rough and has some pretty epic potholes, but it's generally passable even for cars. Wildlife photographers will find plenty of opportunities along this road and it's easy to spend a day exploring. The Big Cypress Bend boardwalk is a much easier way to see some of the natural beauty of the park, and there's often plenty of wildlife along the trail and boardwalk -- you just need to be quiet, look, and listen. I've been here several times and spotted alligators, snakes, owls, blooming orchids and more, all while loud groups of tourists trotted past complaining that there was nothing to see. If you don't look, you won't see!

I've been going to the Fakahatchee Strand for years. An area of natural Florida beauty and a long history including use harvesting pines to build PT boats in World War II. This park is one of the only places to see rare plants - ferns, orchids, pines - and endangered animals - hawks, panthers, mink and otters. There are some guided tours by the local ranger, and groups that do flower or birding hikes. We prefer going off the trams (which used to transport the pines) and into the water to find the best views. There are snakes and gators, but keep an eye out, a walking stick, and go with a group and you should be fine. Notes: DO NOT PARK IN FRONT OF GATES. There are some private properties or areas in the park. You can walk through some, but make sure you don't block the gates. COME PREPARED. Make sure you have water, snacks, boots, walking sticks, and especially a compass. It is easy to get lost inside, even by veterans. You might want to grab an animal and plant guide to really know what you are finding. LEAVE IT BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT. This is a state park and home of unique plants and animals. If you see trash, pick it up.

This is a very nice park in the Everglades area. They offer a guided swamp tour, have a scenic drive (a gravelly rough road - so make sure your car is up to it), and offer multiple options for hiking. By far, our favorite part of our visit was to the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk in the park. It is 2,500 feet long and takes you into the swamp. At the time of our visit, they had recently added a new look-out point into a pond area in the swamp at the end of the boardwalk. The walk is a great opportunity to see wildlife and plants, and they keep a "Recent Sightings" board at the start of the boardwalk. We saw alligators (including a mom with several babies, as well as an outgoing juvenile that allowed for some great photos), a lot of birds including egrets, blue herons, and a barred owl, and the general environment was really interesting. They also have a pair of nesting bald eagles. Many signs dot the sides of the path, providing information about the plants and animals that can be seen, that were helpful and interesting. The walk is easy, on a flat wooden boardwalk, and there are benches provided along the way. This is a wonderful way to see the ecosystem!

One of the best I've been too. $3 suggested donation for adults. Apparently they do guided tours, not sure of schedule. I hopped on the end of one, and the guides really knew their stuff. Pointed out snakes and plants that I would have otherwise been oblivious to. Just be careful of the alligators :) this is real deal, especially in the parking lot and the path and before the board walked area! I almost got a little too close for my liking by accident haha. Enjoy though! Worth visiting!