royal palm visitor center

No trip to the Everglades would be complete without a stop here. There are alligators everywhere. The trail is filled with wildlife - alligators, vultures, turtles,and water birds to name a few. It is a great hike on a boardwalk through wetlands and marshy areas. One of our favorite stops in the Everglades.

We took a free tour with the park ranger and it was just enough to get our feet wet. (Not literally.) If you just want to see some wildlife and of course some alligators, this was a great way to do that for free and simple. Make sure to take the free tour. We would have missed 80 percent of the wildlife without someone there whose trained to spot it. It was a great little tour and we got some great pics of alligators.

In the mornings, vultures flock in the parking lot, gnawing on the rubber parts of cars (e.g., wiper blades). Borrow a tarp and bungee cords from next to the visitor center ASAP and cover your vehicle. There's a small gift shop, restrooms, and vending machines... but, most people hit the trail right away! The Anhinga Trail here is top-notch.

We got mosquito repellant and some nice pins from this park store. The bathroom was quite adequate. The trail was amazing!

These two short trails were among the most interesting we took. The trail heads were close together but the trails were through totally different habitats. Ahninga, named for the cormorants, winds around a pond, while the Gumbo Limbo is named for the strange red barked trees on the viney forest trail. Apparently part of the tree was an ingredient of the original Gumbo.The Visitor center has bathroom facilities, a gift shop and some food available.

If you go to the Everglades National Park, past Ernest Coe, you pay a small "toll" and then reach the Royal Palm Visitor Center. There are bathrooms and drinking fountains and it is the most convenient place to park to access the Anhinga Trail.This is a great short trail, well marked, some of it is even boardwalk above the water. You'll see birds, alligators and air plants. We were there in November and it was lovely weather. I wasn't even bitten by any bugs.

Beautiful blue lake and river; beautiful palms trees, cormorants, anhingas, vultures, little blue herons, great egrets, etc, etc. Its all there just for you. The wildlife are not afraid of you and you get to see birds up close. The alligators are active. Even if an alligator lies still for 15 minutes, sooner or later it will plunge in the water, start swimming, and thrash around.

Small visitor centre where the Anhinga Trail starts - this trail takes less than an hour and is the best. Good washroom facilities at the visitor centre.You can check out the large map and decide on your next activity.

The Visitor Center it's full winter program on December 21st which included the "Slough Slog" also known as the Cypress Dome tour. You get a walking stick and wade through mud and nature into a Cypress Dome. The 1:30 tour takes a maximum of 15 people and there were 8 adventurous souls on our tour. You drive about 10 miles away from the Royal Palm and then walk for less than a mile, but the tour goes slowly since you have to make sure not to slip in the mud. A walking stick is provided and we saw an owl, a snake, and an alligator on our 90 minute walk (total time is 2 hours including the drive to and from Royal Palm Visitor Center). It was an authentic nature walk and a lot of fun to get wet and muddy, yet it was a pretty mild walk. Highly recommend it.

Don't skip the movie as it shares a lot about the area. We started our trip here and it was very beneficial to learn about the area first before we planned out how to spend our time.

The Royal Palm Visitor Center is the access point for two trails: the Anhinga and the Gumbo Limbo. Both trails are worth doing as they are very different. If you only have time for one, do the Anhinga trail which has the most wildlife, including anhingas and alligators in their natural habitat. It takes about an hour for walking and viewing time and is all on a hard made-up surface and a boardwalk, which makes it easy going and baby-buggy and wheelchair friendly. The other trail is the Gumbo Limbo, which takes about 30 minutes and is the closest you get to walking through a rain forest and shows you how nature recovers quickly, as the area was devastated by Hurricane Andrew. If you're embarking on the Gumbo Limbo trail, do use a mosquito spray, they are vicious. There are many signs along both trails explaining what to look for to get the most out of your visit.The Royal Palm Visitor Center and both trails are free, however, there is a $10 per car fee to enter the Everglades National Park, which is great value and worth every cent. Do come prepared as at the visitor center there are limited facilities to buy food and drink (vending machines only). Best advice is to make a stop before you enter the Everlades National Park to purchase water, food and mosquito spray.The visitor center and trails are a definite 'must-see' on your next trip. Do hope you enjoy as much as we did, the highlight of our trip to Florida.

Fab to see animals like alligators in their natural environment. August is not the best time to visit, even so we spotted 3 alligators within a few minutes. We also saw lots of anhinga birds and massive lubber grasshoppers. If you do go mid summer, go prepared with jungle formula - I got bitten to death by mosquitoes going through the Gumbo Limbo trail. Otherwise we really enjoyed our visit!

The Everglades National Park is huge. There are several entrances. Pick the one which is most convenient to you. We entered by way of Homestead.There is an admission charge. It is a fair price and pays the salaries of the workers and maintenance of the park. You can spend the entire day there communing with nature. There are lots to see and do including hikes on trails, boating, and camping.The driving is easy once you enter the park and while driving, you will have many serendipitous moments such as sighting turtles crossing the road or three great white herons standing in a pool of water or hawks soaring in the sky. Ignore the black panther signs. The probability of seeing them is zero since there are only 8 - 10 in the park and 100 in the United States.There is a visitor center with clean bathroom facilities. There are picnic tables and benches. Bring your own lunch since there are vending machines only.A clean beautiful long boardwalk weaves in and out. The walk is flat and easy. Anyone can do it.A wealth of wildlife greets you. The main attraction and primary reason for visiting the Everglades is the alligators. They are everywhere. The alligators camouflage in the ponds and look like logs because they are brown and stay very still. Be on the alert, otherwise you will miss them. If you are very lucky, you can see them on land also next to you as you walk. You will be tempted to poke them with your foot to test whether they are alive. Do not. They will chomp on you because they are real!The Anhinga birds live side-by-side with the alligators. They are so pretty and lively that they overshadow the alligators. They perch on the banks and rails. They show off. They preen themselves. They love to be photographed. They are silly. Their antics shove the alligators to the sidelines. They become the main show!I mentioned "a wealth of wildlife" earlier. This include mosquitoes and green-head flies that bite and sting. The flies bite like horse flies and the mosquitoes not only bite but buzz in your ears. My hands and legs are full of relentlessly itchy red sores. Bring insect repellent.

We parked up at the Royal Palm Visitor Center and walked round the Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trails. We spotted around 7 alligators on the Anhinga and plenty of lizards on the Gumbo Limbo. Don't be disappointed if you don't immediately spot the alligators, they are there, you just need to be patient and keep your eyes peeled! There are covers available for your car to protect against vultures. We did see some although they weren't on any cars. We used a cover just in case though.

I found the people at the visitor center very, very helpful and informative. The facility was very nice, clean and interesting