Key Largo Florida

Everglades

Spanning the southern tip of the Florida peninsula and most of Florida Bay, Everglades National Park is the only subtropical preserve in North America. It contains both temperate and tropical plant communities, including sawgrass prairies, mangrove and cypress swamps, pinelands, and hardwood hammocks, as well as marine and estuarine environments. The park is known for its rich bird life, particularly large wading birds, such as the roseate spoonbill, wood stork, great blue heron and a variety of egrets. It is also the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles exist side by side.
Everglades National Park has been designated a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.
www.nps.gov/ever/

The Florida Everglades is a subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, specifically in parts of Monroe, Collier, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. Although much modified by agricultural development in central and southern Florida, the Everglades is the southern half of a large watershed arising in the vicinity of Orlando known as the Kissimmee River system. The Kissimmee flows from Taylor Creek, Nubbin Slough, and Fisheating Creek, and discharges into Lake Okeechobee, a very large (730 mi² or 1,890 km²), shallow (10 ft or 3 m) fresh water lake. Water leaving Lake Okeechobee in the wet season forms the Everglades, an annual shallow, slow-moving flood at one time 40 miles wide and over 100 miles long moving southward across a nearly flat, limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state.

The Everglades extends from Lake Okeechobee on the north to Florida Bay on the south and was once bordered by Big Cypress Swamp on the west and the Atlantic Coastal Ridge on the east. It has been called the River of Grass (Douglas, 1947) because of the slow flow of water from Okeechobee southward and the predominance of a sedge known as sawgrass. Slighty elevated points in this extremely flat area are covered with trees, usually cypress.

Some 50 percent of the original Everglades has been lost to agriculture. Most of the rest is now protected in a national park, national wildlife refuge, and water conservation areas. Water from the Everglades is still used as a water supply for major cities in the area, such as Miami. The Everglades is crossed from west to east by a toll road called "Alligator Alley", now part of Interstate 75.

There are several small outlets, such as the Miami River and the New River on the east and the Shark River on the southwest. There is a general south to southwesterly movement of surface water.

Everglades National Park preserves the southern portion of the Everglades (all south of Tamiami Trail), but represents only 20 percent of the original wetland area. The Park covers 1.5 million acres (6,000km²) and is a World Heritage Site. The only highway access is the State Road 9336, running 38 miles (61km) from Florida City to the coast at Flamingo. Excluding the main visitor center and some smaller park facilities, there is no development in the park.

Fishing in the park:
All waters from, and including, Nine Mile Pond northward along the Main Park Road are considered fresh water. Interior rivers in the northern part of the park, such as the Turner River, are fresh water. Contact the Visitor Center and get up to date information on your catch limit and fishing regulations. You are responsible to know your catch limit. All commercial fishing is prohibited in Everglades National Park. Except for dip nets, cast nets, and landing nets, all other seines and nets are prohibited. The use and possession of spear guns and spear poles are prohibited.

Airboat, wildlife and eco tours are a popular tourist activity.

See:
• John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
• Bahia Honda State Park

• Dive and Snorkeling
• Sailing

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Everglades".