Everglades National Park

Welcome to the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, Florida's spectacular Everglades National Park! This is a place that has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance, a World Heritage Site, and an International Biosphere Reserve.

Park History: Before the Spanish first arrived in the early 16th Century, South Florida was mostly occupied by the Calusa Native American tribe. The Calusa were a highly organized society who traveled long distance via canoe and build many weapons and tools out of shells. By the 18th century most of the tribe had been wiped out by disease. In the 19th Century more people began settling in South Florida, the cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale began to grow, and farmers and developers took their toll on the Everglades. The Everglades is actually a flowing river that once stretched from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee south to Biscayne Bay. Everglades National Park was established in 1947 to protect what was remaining of this magnificent river. From the 1950s until 1989 many cover Cold War operations were conducted in the Everglades National Park due to it's close location to communist Cuba.

Flora and Fauna: Everglades National Park helps protect the home of numerous plant and animals species. Some of the plants that grow inside the park boundaries include sword ferns, cypress trees, pines, alligator lillies, palm trees, asters, milkweeds, and many others. Some of the wild animals who call this place home include alligators, American crocodiles, corn snakes, pythons, gopher tortoises, ospreys, herons, ducks, flamingos, raccoons, bobcats, squirrels, foxes, bats, and the endangered Florida Panther. Please treat their home with respect.

For the lover of the outdoors Everglades National Park boasts miles of both water and land trails, numerous campsites, and so much more. Come on out and explore!

This was RecPlanet place of the day on April 20, 2016.