Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida - April 8th to 13th, 2023

Big Cypress National Preserve covers a large area of the Everglades that is not part of Everglades National Park, north of the park. The Tamiami Trail road cuts through the southern portion of the preserve, which is where we explored. It was the end of the dry season, so much of the land was not swampy, but there were still plenty of gators and birds to be seen.

Saturday we drove from Myakka River State Park to Monument Lake Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve. Along the way, we stopped in Ft. Myers to have lunch with some former work colleagues, whom we haven’t seen in decades. It was so nice to travel down memory lane and catch up on each others’ lives. Thanks for meeting up with us, Penny and Tom!

As we entered Big Cypress National Preserve, we stopped at the Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center just minutes before it closed. Despite being tired at the end of her work day, the wonderful park ranger provided us with good information about road and trail conditions along with quite a few options and recommendations for hiking, biking, and scenic drives. We appreciated her taking her time to explain everything and not rushing through the information just to get us out the door. Thank you!

Monument Lake Campground is lovely. The loop of campsites encircles the lake, so every site has a nice view. Several gators call the lake home. The camp hosts also warned us about bears and snakes in the area, so we should watch where we step and not leave anything out at our campsite that might attract wildlife.

A thunderstorm rolled through as we were setting up camp. The storm brought some appreciated cooler air. The campground does not have any hook ups, so we couldn’t run our air conditioner. The temperatures went from the 90’s down into the 80’s. Over night they dipped down into the 60’s, so we had a very comfortable time sleeping, listening to all the sounds of nature through our open, screened windows.

After dinner, we walked a couple of loops around the lake, watching the alligators and birds in and around the lake. The weather had cleared up and gave us a gorgeous sunset over the lake.

One of the camp hosts rode around the lake on her bicycle, handing out cookies she had baked to all the campers. She and her husband are actually the maintenance staff, not the normal camp hosts. The official camp hosts had already left for the season. Monument Campground was only open for one more week before shutting down for the summer months. The campground is rather exposed, so it would be very toasty in the summer. Plus, they want to give the alligators a break from the campers, especially during mating season, when they can be more aggressive. We had already eaten our dessert, so we saved the cookies for lunch the next day. Thank you for the cookies!

Sunday we went hiking. The trail we chose was Gator Hook Trail. The trailhead is just a couple of miles down the Loop Road. The road is dirt with some washboarding, but not too bad. We were considering driving down the rest of Loop Road after our hike, but we talked to someone who came from the other direction. They said we might have problems in our high roof RV with some low branches.

We ate an early lunch at the trailhead before our hike. While we were sitting at the picnic table, we could hear splashing in the water on the far side of the road. Thick vegetation obstructed our view of the water except for a couple of small holes or pathways to the water. It sounded like footfalls in the water from a good-sized animal, like a feral pig. It perplexed us for a while. We were not daring enough to go down the paths to the water’s edge due to the poor visibility in alligator territory, nor did we want to surprise a wild boar. We peered down a few times. Then Ann saw the splashes in the water, but couldn’t tell what was causing them. Another person saw some foot-long fish. We concluded that must be what all the splashing was about, just fish flopping around in the shallow water. Later, when Ann looked at the couple of pictures she took, there was a small heron and a juvenile alligator down there.

Being the end of the dry season, the trail was dry. Most of the rest of the year, the trail is mostly under water, sometimes with sections of waist-deep water. Even dry, the trail was not fast. There were cypress knees everywhere that you had to pay attention not to trip over or stub your toes. There were sections of eroded limestone that looked like large Swiss cheese that we carefully negotiated our way through so as not to twist an ankle or trip and fall. Falling among those jagged rocks or cypress knees would probably result in broken bones, hopefully just broken limbs and not a skull.

We could not imagine trying to hike the trail when it is covered with swampy water. Not only could you not see your footing, risking broken ankles, but there is the added risk of alligators and poisonous snakes in the water. No thank you! However, we know there are people who do hike through the swamp waters. The Florida National Scenic Trail starts just a few miles further down the Loop Road. Most through-hikers hike start the trail when it is under water. If they go during the dry season, there are no water sources and some of the sections are too long to carry that much water with them. It is just impractical. If you plan to hike the Gator Hook Trail, we would advise checking the trail conditions with the ranger at the visitor center.

We didn’t see any animals during our hike, except for lots of little lizards and some colorful grasshoppers. Every now and then, we would hear movement in the distance, but we never spotted the animals making the noise. However, the vegetation was interesting and varied throughout the hike. From the Swiss cheese limestone out in the open, to brushing along green ferns, to a tunnel of tall, skinny trees lining the narrow path, with bromeliads clinging to their trunks. The end of the trail is rather anti-climatic, just benches of what used to be a picnic table, but the trail itself was what made it enjoyable.

In total, we went 4.8 miles with zero elevation gain which took us two and a half hours to complete. It was hike number 13 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023.

We decided to not drive the rest of Loop Road. Instead, we headed back to US 41 and over to Kirby Storter Roadside Park. There is a short boardwalk there through the swamp, about one mile round trip. Most of the swamp was dry, but there was some water at the end of the boardwalk. Amazingly, there were a large number of small fish in the water, quite a variety of them, along with a large turtle. One type of fish had blue tails that looked fluorescent. A great blue heron took off and flew away while we were there. It must have been hiding underneath the boardwalk.

It rained lightly on us a couple of times during our hike and again on the boardwalk, but it was warm enough out that the water did not bother us, other than Ann stuck her camera inside her backpack for a little while. However, more thunderstorms were in the forecast for the evening, so we called it a day and headed back to the campground. After dinner, we walked one loop around the lake before the rain hit. The temperatures cooled down even more and made it very pleasant to sleep that night.

Monday was our airboat ride reservation. There are many airboat ride tours all over southern Florida. Loud and fast is normally not our style, but we’ve never been on an airboat before, so we decided to try it for the experience. The one we picked was Everglades City Airboat Tours. It is a family-run business and they use two-way headsets. They are a small operation with only five boats. Each of their boats only hold six passengers. We shared a boat with a family of four.

Even though Everglades City sits on the edge of Everglades National Park, in the Ten Thousand Islands area, airboats are not allowed inside the national park. Instead, we toured through the mangroves just outside the park, along with lots of other airboats. However, they communicate with each other so we were normally out of sight of the other boats.

Being loud and fast meant that we didn’t see much wildlife. It was the end of the dry season, so the brackish water of the mangroves was too salty for the alligators and they were further upstream where the water is fresher. We did see a few raccoons along the shore. Raccoons are normally nocturnal, but in the mangroves, they come out during low tide to scavenge for food among the exposed tree roots. According to Captain Web, raccoons are the only mammals that live in the salty area because they can get enough fresh water from licking the rain off the leaves, while other mammals need a better source of fresh water. Although our captain had stories about snakes and spiders falling of the trees and landing in the boat, we did not see any during our tour.

Even though Ann was hoping to see more wildlife, we had an enjoyable ride. Flying down the narrow tunnels through the mangroves and whipping around the corners was fun. However, we’ll probably choose a slower, quieter boat ride next time.

After our airboat ride, we drove into the center of Everglades City. It is a small, laid back town. We parked at the park and walked over to the Camellia Street Grill for lunch. They have outdoor seating right on the water. It was one of the places that Captain Web pointed out during our tour. You ordered your food at the counter, then they bring out your food, take your dessert order, and ring up your bill at your table. So it was a mixture of counter and table service. Stone crab is a local specialty. Ann is not a fan of seafood and fish, but she was surprised that Keith did not order any crab. He was going to try the stone crab tacos, but they were sold out. Instead he ordered the shrimp po boy while Ann got the smoked chicken sandwich. For dessert, we both had a slice of key lime pie. The food was pretty tasty, but the atmosphere and view was even better.

On our walk back to Red Tail through town, we spotted a lot of little crabs scurrying around in a large mud puddle alongside the road. We stopped and watched them for a little while. They were so cute. Their right claw looked way too big for the size of their bodies. Very interesting.

On our way back to the campground, we stopped at the H. P. Williams Roadside Park. There is a short boardwalk there with a view of quite a few large alligators, along with birds and turtles. In a bush along the bank, there was a juvenile anhinga. We weren’t sure it could fly yet, but it must have flown at some point, because there was no nest in sight. While we were there, a male anhinga came and fed the juvenile, then took off again. It was a fascinating sight. Hopefully, the juvenile will learn how to fly and not end up as dinner for one of the alligators below.

What was also amazing was that none of the alligators snagged the large turtle swimming around. We watched as one large gator swam towards the turtle, which calmly dove down deeper as the alligator swam over top of it. Ann thought for sure the alligator would try to snag it.

We spent the rest of the day back at the campground. We managed to get one loop around the lake as the rains started for the evening. As we approached the one corner of the lake, we saw a large alligator laying on top of the bank. As we got a little closer, he suddenly got up and went back into the water. We’ve heard that alligators can move fast, but witnessing it was still surprising. It puts a little more fear and respect back into you after seeing so many of them just slowly float around in the water.

The weather forecast for Tuesday was strong winds and scattered thunderstorms all day. There is a service road at the back of the campground that leads to the maze of OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) roads in the backcountry, which the ranger at the visitor center said are great for bicycle riding. The service road says authorized vehicles only, but we interpreted that to mean no OHV’s are allowed. We believe the road is fine for cyclists and hikers. An alternative would be to head east down the highway for less than a mile to pick up one of the trailheads for the OHV trails. However, we didn’t want to pack up Red Tail to go there nor ride our bikes down the busy highway.

However, the two weather apps that we were using did not agree on when and how much rain we would get during the day. We didn’t want to be caught out in the rain with our e-bikes and then rush to get them put away in the gear garage, where they would sit wet for two days. The forecast for Wednesday was worse, calling for rain all day and then Thursday was a travel day for us, so it would be days before we could get the bikes out again to dry off. Therefore, we decided to hike the OHV trails instead.

We managed to get in 6.2 miles with an elevation gain of 3 feet in under two hours. We counted it as hike #14 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023. It was windy and looked like rain, but it just started to sprinkle on us as we returned to our campsite.

The OHV trails are somewhat marked, but we would recommend you having a map and/or GPS navigation with you. The trails go on for miles and you would not want to get lost out there in the wilderness. The trails we were on were called Monroe North and Monument. The trails are dirt and gravel, as wide as a car or sometimes even wider.

Due to the wide trails, we didn’t feel like any wildlife could sneak up on us. However, we didn’t see any wildlife at all except for grasshoppers and millipedes. We heard a few birds, but didn’t see any. There were a variety of wildflowers lining the road in places. All in all, the Gator Hook Trail that we took on Sunday was a much more interesting trail. The OHV trails would probably be more fun on our e-bikes, but we would not recommend the trails for road bikes.

The rest of the day we hung out in the campground. It never did rain very much, just a lot of strong winds. Ann worked on some blog posts while Keith cut his own hair using the kit he brought with us. He decided cutting his hair himself was less of a hassle than finding a hair salon and waiting to get served. Last season, in Great Falls, Montana, he waited half an hour even after checking in online ahead of time before we got there. (Great Falls, Montana - September 28th to 30th, 2022).

There was a steady rain most of Wednesday. We thought about visiting Shark Valley and taking the tram tour or visiting the Miccosukee Indian Village, but being out in the cold rain didn’t appeal to us. Instead, we just hung out inside Red Tail. The temperatures were cool, barely reaching 70 degrees and the moisture made it feel even cooler. Ann changed out of her shorts into pants (Keith rarely wears shorts) and we both put on long sleeve shirts.

Ann worked on blog posts while Keith did some maintenance on Red Tail. The mount for our recycle bin had come off the wall, so he re-installed it with VHB tape. We’ll probably attach a block under the bin so it rests on the floor and takes some of the weight off the mount. Our water pump had been sounding a little funny on occasion, so Keith checked the filter on the pump. He removed a little bit of plastic debris, so we’re hoping that was the issue. After he put everything back together, the pump sounded funny until the air worked itself out of the lines.

Whenever there was a break in the rain, which didn’t happen until late in the afternoon, we would walk a lap or two around the lake. After dinner, the sun finally came out, just in time for a lovely sunset.

The sunrise Thursday morning was just as lovely. We woke to a fog just lifting off the lake. The puffy clouds were reflecting off the water. The wet spider webs hanging in the bushes were sparkling in the sunlight. A snake was basking in the morning light. A perfect send off as we packed up and moved on.

Despite all the rain, we enjoyed our stay in Big Cypress National Preserve. We had a relaxing time. It was not an action-packed time, but we really enjoyed the experience.

Check out our related video: Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida

(Ann)