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Been Outdoors on the Paradise Coast - But Haven't Done THAT!
May 28, 2009

An overview of some of the unique outdoor activities and sightseeing opportunities in the Naples, Marco Island and Gulf Coast Everglades Region.

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Naples, Fla. (May 28, 2009) – Just a short drive away from the resort cities of Naples and Marco Island, both lined with beautiful white sand beaches and boasting a diverse cultural scene, there is a huge expanse of wilderness just waiting to be discovered.

Hiking trails, nature boardwalks, scenic drives and paddling routes provide excellent access to the cypress forests and upland prairies of the western Everglades. Waterway trails including the Wilderness Waterway in Everglades National Park and the Paradise Coast Blueway through the Ten Thousand Islands provide paddling routes through America’s only subtropical mangrove wilderness. An excellent selection of guide services and outfitters may be found in the area to help you discover this spectacular wilderness region, and perhaps, a lot more about yourself along the way.

One of the best aspects of the region is that it tends to be filled with somewhat offbeat and quirky surprises, some of which take you beyond your normal vacation activities.

Unusual Sights and Surprises

The nation’s smallest post office, you say? Yes, you’ll find it right alongside U.S. 41, also known as the Tamiami Trail, just east of the road to Everglades City. The Ochopee Post Office, at 8 ft, 3 inches by 7 feet, 4 inches, is a former tool shed pressed into service as a U.S. Post Office after a fire destroyed the previous Post Office in 1953. If you blink you’ll miss it, so watch for it on the south side of the highway just east of Wooten’s, home to the area’s original airboat and swamp buggy tours.

Speaking of Wooten’s, if you haven’t seen enough alligators and crocodiles already in the wild, at one of the roadside viewing areas or from an airboat, you’ll get up close to over 200 huge ones at Wooten’s Alligator Park & Animal Exhibit. You can hold a live baby alligator for a souvenir photo if you are so inclined, or just marvel at all the reptilian flesh in such close proximity – to you!

Another good place to view alligators as well as other wildlife is on the Airboats & Alligators tour at Lake Trafford in Immokalee. This 1,500 acre freshwater lake is an important part of the Big Cypress watershed, and has one of the highest density alligator populations in the state of Florida. Other common sightings include wild boar, dear, wild turkey, cattle, and many species of wading birds and birds of prey.

Along the Tamiami Trail you’ll find plenty of scenic spots to pull over and hopefully pull off an extraordinary Everglades photograph. Watch the sky. As clouds build vertically in the sky it makes a dramatic counterpoint to the vast horizontal landscape.

Janes Scenic Drive, Turner River Road and Loop Road in the Everglades area all make for wonderful scenic driving tours. Drive slowly and pull over often. Wildlife sightings include raccoon, black bear, dear, birds, butterflies and even the extremely rare and endangered Florida panther.

One of the more unusual stops along Loop Road is the homestead and outdoor photography studio of Lucky Cole. Lucky specializes in Everglades and biker-themed glamour photos, all shot outdoors. He invites his clients to be as tame or wild as their heart desires.

For those in search of fine art photography, a stop at famed black & white photographer Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery is a must. The gallery is also the sight of the annual Labor Day Muck-About celebration with guided swamp walks, photography demonstrations and more.

At Trail Lakes Campground on Tamiami Trail within Big Cypress National Preserve, the gift shop and welcome center is dedicated to the mythological Skunk Ape, long rumored to be the Yeti of the Everglades. Known as the Skunk Ape Research Center, you’ll find souvenirs and information on reputed sightings.

At Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, you never know what you might see. A 2.25 mile boardwalk winds through the nation’s last old growth virgin bald cypress forest as well as several other habitats. The sanctuary is a magnet for bird and animal species, many of them rare, threatened or endangered. Volunteers and visitors identify all the species spotted each day on a board at the beginning of the trail. For the past two summers an extremely rare ghost orchid has thrilled visitors with multiple blossoms viewable by spotting scope from the public boardwalk

Paddling Can Be a Life Affirming Adventure

Kayaking is one of the fastest growing outdoor activities, and it is something that all ages are pursuing with great enthusiasm. This makes it a wonderful choice for a multigenerational family excursion. Several of the outfitters in Everglades City, such as Everglades Area Tours, use motorboats to ferry passengers and kayak to remote regions, putting paddlers in the best spots for a memorable eco tour of the Everglades’ labyrinthine mangrove creeks and rivers, renowned as some of the most beautiful wilderness in the world. Spend half a day exploring or embark on a multi-day wilderness camping expedition, and bring a fishing rod, since the area is spectacular for kayak fishing.

You And A Kayak offers half and full day guided tours lead by master naturalist Capt. Laura Lee French for novice, intermediate or advanced paddlers along with the popular Cowgirl Kayakers half day and full day tours for female paddlers. For the truly adventurous, the Cowgirl Kayakers Camp is a 2-day, 1-night kayak camping trip for women only that includes basic training from loading your gear to setting up camp, camp style cooking and plenty of laughs. All gear is supplied - just bring a sense of adventure.

The Everglades Wilderness Waterway is often thought to be the paddling experience of a lifetime if explored from start to finish. Paddlers must allow 7-9 days to go from Everglades City to Flamingo, with all gear, food and water packed in and packed out. Everglades Rentals & Eco Adventures, based at The Ivey House in Everglades City, offers guided waterway trips along the entire route with a shuttle ride back to Everglades City.

Saltwater Sports offers single and double kayak rentals as well as guided tours from Glades Haven Marina in Everglades City, along with its other more urban locations – at Little Bar Restaurant in Goodland, at the Village on Venetian Bay shopping center in Naples, at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s Naples Nature Center, and from a private beach located behind the Capri Fish House on Isles of Capri just outside Marco Island.

You’ve Always Wanted to Be a Dolphin Naturalist Sea Excursions is now offering their “dolphin experience” cruise aboard the Dolphin Explorer out of Port O Call marina in Naples as well as out of Marco River Marina on Marco Island. Guests volunteer as citizen scientist dolphin researchers during the sightseeing cruise. Lead by dolphin researchers, passengers participate in the 10,000 Islands Dolphin Project, a 5-year scientific research study to identify and track the movements of resident dolphins in the Marco Island and Naples areas. Children may complete tasks onboard that earn them entry into the Dolphin Explorer’s Club, with a survey patch, newsletter and follow-up activities for after you return home from vacation. Group team experiences are available with advance notice, as are more intensive full day volunteer experiences.

Get Out There and Get Fit

If you love to bike, why not take it up a notch and peddle through a wilderness area within Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park? Out ‘nBack Nature Tours offers guided bicycle tours in the Everglades as well as through beautiful downtown Naples. They also offer a GPS walking tour in Naples utilizing hand held GPS to solve clues and puzzles throughout historic downtown Naples.

During the winter season, rangers at Big Cypress National Preserve offer free guided swamp walks as well as guided bicycle rides and canoe trips. Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, the native orchid capital of North America, offers ranger guided swamp walks and canoe tours, usually between November and April for a small charge. Both offer excellent and invigorating experiences deep within the cypress forests of the western Everglades.

For more information on Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades – The Paradise Coast, call 1-800-688-3600 for a free visitors guide or go at the area’s official visitor information Web site, www.ParadiseCoast.com.

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