A long-beloved hike along the Tamiami Trail has been re-imagined, now starting a half mile east of its original location.
With this expansion, the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk better illustrates the complexities of one of Florida’s largest state parks.
Opened in 2024, a large parking area and restrooms make the trailhead more prominent, as does an eye-catching bridge to a large pavilion hovering over a wet prairie.
The new pavilion is a birder’s delightThe original boardwalk is in the process of being rebuilt in its exact footprint and has not yet reopened.
A machine extends the boardwalk deck ten feet a day so as to not damage the habitat below with heavy equipment. For now, the hike is a mile round trip.
A portion of the hike follows a berm between boardwalksResources
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Overview
Location: Everglades City
Length: 1 mile
Trailhead: 25.940116, -81.464797
Address: 27020 E Tamiami Trl, Naples
Fees: $3 per vehicle or $2 per cyclist
Restroom: At the trailhead
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 239-695-4593
Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed pets permitted but you must pick up after them. Keep children and pets away from the water’s edge, as alligators are present.
Directions
From Everglades City, drive north on SR 29 to the traffic light and follow US 41 (Tamiami Trail) west 7 miles. The prominent trailhead parking area is on the right and signs point it out.
Hike
Start by crossing the showy grated bridge to the roofed pavilion. Topped with solar panels and open on all sides, it hovers over a wet prairie.
Adirondack chairs and spotting scopes make this a prime birding location. Water levels determine the types of birds you’ll see in this broad, open prairie.
Bridge to the new pavilionHerons, egrets, and ibis are common, but wood storks and roseate spoonbills may also gather to feed. As the water dries up, a white webby film crusts across the grasses.
This is what periphyton, the primary biomass of the Everglades, looks like when dried. It is a complex organism, a symbiosis of algae, fungi, and bacteria, and omnipresent in this habitat.
Periphyton floating in the water belowAround the pavilion, interpretive signage introduces you to aspects of the surrounding habitat.
Leaving the pavilion and turn right to begin the boardwalk. It’s broad enough for two to walk abreast.
Starting straightawayStretching across the prairie westbound, it aims for a stand of cabbage palms on its edge. Reach a bumpout with a pair of free spotting scopes aimed at the prairie.
Jog past an interpretive panel on dead trees into a zigzag among the palms. A sharp right with a bench at its corner carries the boardwalk into a zigzag.
Zigzagging boardwalkBelow, it is wetter among the tall grasses and shrubs. Golden polypody ferns sprout from lichen patches on the palms.
Pass an interpretive marker on observing trees and another sharp right with a bench.
Bench at a cornerBeyond the marker on epiphytes, zigzag around several corners, two with benches. Reach a straightaway with a stunning panorama of a broad open savanna.
The treeline defining its horizon is the strand swamp that the original Big Cypress Boardwalk traverses.
Savanna and the distant strandAn interpretive marker explains the importance of fire for maintaining the savannas of Fakahatchee. At 0.3 mile the boardwalk ends, facing Green Heron Lake.
End of first boardwalkTurn left to follow a shellrock berm. Stay very alert for alligators. There are many alligator slides between the marsh on the left and the lake on the right.
Green Heron Lake is a streak of blue beyond a line of bay trees. Cross a wooden bridge among the trees.
Bridge along the bermThe shellrock path curves beyond it to a boardwalk lined with cabbage palms, reaching a clear observation point for the lake.
A pair of spotting scopes encourage you to scan for birds roosting across the open water. The boardwalk currently ends here, a half mile into the hike.
Green Heron LakeTurn around and retrace your route, enjoying the myriad of perspectives on Fakahatchee’s habitats. Re-crossing the arched bridge to the parking area, complete a mile-long hike.
Once the former boardwalk into the strand is re-established, the round-trip will expand to roughly 2.5 miles.
Current end point of the hikeTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park It’s the Amazon of North America, home of the ghost orchid. Protecting more than 85,000 acres, Fakahatchee Strand is Florida's largest state preserve and most certainly our wildest.Video
A walk along the new Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
Slideshow
See our photos from this hike
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