Florida offers more than just seaside resorts, condo megalopolises, and strip malls: It has some of the deepest, most exotic wilderness in the lower 48 states. Three national parks and one national preserve constitute a surprising amount of undeveloped country in the heavily populated southern "toe" of Florida. Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve are adjacent to one another and crucially interact in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem while Biscayne and Dry Tortugas national parks are defined as much by saltwater as by land.
Landscapes
Florida's national parks, by virtue of the state's unique geography and climate, are like no others in the U.S. Everglades National Park protects the one-of-a-kind "sea of grass" that represents the marshy track of Lake Okeechobee overflow to the ocean, as well as rocky pine lands, tropical hardwood hammocks, cypress strands, and mangrove coastline. Big Cypress National Preserve next to the 'Glades showcases a wild swath of cypress swamp and hammocks. Biscayne National Park features subtropical keys and mangrove forests while the Dry Tortugas are defined by remote, dry islands and coral wilderness 70 miles to the west of Key West.
Wildlife
The wildlife protected in the parks is equally diverse. The raccoons and American alligators that prowl Big Cypress and the Everglades are familiar from many parts of the southeastern U.S., but they brush shoulders at these parks with creatures of the subtropics and tropics: swallow-tailed kites, American crocodiles, West Indian manatees, and others. The Florida panther, a subspecies of puma with a very restricted modern range, finds its greatest refuge in the Big Cypress-Everglades wilderness complex. Whether scanning the coastal parts of these parks for dolphins or studying a tree snail in a hardwood hammock, the most visible wildlife will likely be birds: from wood storks to frigatebirds, depending on your location.
Wilderness
The national parks of southern Florida protect true wilderness amid major human development and sprawl. From a mangrove spit in Biscayne National Park you can see the Miami skyline and marvel at the dichotomy. Everglades National Park, a half-hour's drive from Miami, harbors one of the biggest roadless areas in the lower 48 states.
Activities
Visitors to Biscayne National Park can snorkel and scuba dive among the coral reefs that fringe the mainland and the offshore keys. Guided canoe trips in the Everglades give you an up-close look at mangroves, bird life, and alligators. The watery back country of the Everglades offers multi-day wilderness kayaking adventures; intrepid souls can strike out on foot through the shadows of Big Cypress. Explorers at the Dry Tortugas can appreciate a little human history in the form of 19th-century U.S. military forts.
Camping
All of Florida's national parks offer some form of camping. The Dry Tortugas have one primitive campground with 10 sites. One campground each lies on Boca Chita and Elliott keys at Biscayne National Park, reachable only by boat. Everglades National Park has two developed campgrounds: Long Pine Key in the upland woods near the park entrance and Flamingo on the shores of Florida Bay. Back-country camping is allowed in the park's roadless wilderness. Big Cypress offers numerous developed and back-country camping opportunities.
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