You are here

Home » For Contrarians, Winter Is The Perfect Season To Hit The Road To The National Parks

For Contrarians, Winter Is The Perfect Season To Hit The Road To The National Parks

Share
By Patrick Cone - November 13th, 2014
Alternate Text

The waters of Everglades and Big Cypress are home to more than a few reptilian creatures/Patrick Cone

Winter is not the season to leave the rig in the driveway. Across the National Park System there are wonderful places to explore while half the nation is locked in snow and cold. 

America'™s Tropics

While the top of the nation scrapes ice off their car windshields, down south in America'™s tropics the sky is blue, the air is cool, and the trees are green. Warm up and experience these three gems of the National Park System just a short distance from the beaches of Miami. Florida is a land of contrasts. Grab a couple of cubanos (cuban sandwiches) and head east on the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41), past the town of Sweetwater (founded by wintering circus midgets!), past the earthen dikes that protect the city, and into the sea of grass.

You'™ll get a good taste of Everglades National Park and the River of Grass at the new Shark Valley Visitor Center, just 25 miles from town. Take a naturalist-led tram tour, or walk or bike (there are rentals) the 7.5-mile roundtrip boardwalk trail to the Shark Valley Observation Tower, where you will see herons, deer, turtles, and alligators far below. The Shark Valley Visitor Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Just ten miles further west on U.S. 41, find yourself in Big Cypress National Preserve, where the pines and cypress groves rise above the grassy plains. Watch for alligators sunning themselves along the roadway. As long as you don'™t bother them, they won'™t bother you.

The fresh water from the 729,000-acre Big Cypress Swamp flows with its nutrients to the Everglade'™s Florida Bay to the south, one of the largest estuaries in the world, where boats are limited to low-speed polling, or trolling. Sunsets and wildlife are spectacular all along the roads.

Once back in the city, experience a different type of wilderness, at Biscayne National Park. Dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles call this mangrove-lined bay home. Just 9 miles east of Homestead, Florida, a good first stop in the park is the Dante Fascell Visitor Center with its hands-on museum and displays.

For the adventurous, visit Stiltsville near the northern end of the bay, and see squatters'™ unique water-homes that date back to the 1930s. Better yet, grab your snorkel or scuba gear and explore the Maritime Heritage Trail with its wrecks of old.

Featured Article

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.