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The Preserve is open year around, 24 hours a day with a total of 426,988 visitors in 2004. It encompasses 729,000 acres. It was made a National Preserve on October 11, 1974. The visitor center is open daily, except December 25, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The visitor center’s entrance is accessible with automated sliding doors. Inside the visitor center there is an information desk, and a captioned film about the Big Cypress National Preserve. Outside the visitor center is a wildlife viewing platform and the restrooms are located near the parking lot. All of the amenities at the visitor center are accessible.

There were several Indian tribes in the Preserve area, but the most significant were the Calusa. Perhaps as early as 1450 B.C along the southwest Gulf coast lived the Calusa (Caloosa) Indians, a tribe that entered Florida either from the islands or the north at the start of the Christian era and dominated South Florida with their stature, skills, and brutality. These powerfully built men were often four inches taller than their European counterparts, had hip-length hair and wore only tanned breech clouts of deerskin fastened with intricate belts to show their position in the tribe. Women dressed in woven Spanish moss and palmetto leaf garments.

Great sailors, they used large canoes of hallowed out cypress logs capable of reaching Cuba, perhaps Mexico. Their language indicated they may have traveled to Florida from the islands. Outstanding hunters and fishermen, they did little farming. As warriors they also gained tributes of food from smaller tribes.

Mound Key near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River was the largest village; about forty coastal villages spread along the Florida Gulf Coast. They built huge mounds of shell and deep moats to protect their villages of raised huts, although they lacked domesticated animals and heavy tools. Burial mounds and a temple mound for ceremonies encircled the village. The Caloosahatchee River (“River of the Calusa”) teaming with small game and fish as well as shellfish was their main highway into the interior. They could go around Lake Okeechobee and travel up the Kissimmee River into other tribal areas.

Early Spanish accounts indicated that the Calusa had a complex social and political organization. In charge were the hereditary chief and the dolman or priest. They demanded obedience from all villagers. Because of their closed society they were not interested in Spanish missionary activity.

In 1896, on Marco Island in southwest Florida, archeologist Frank Hamilton Cushing discovered a well-preserved six-inch high wooden statuette of a panther. It had probably been frequently anointed with the fat of slain animals or victims. To this, doubtless, its remarkable preservation was due. He found many tools, weapons, utensils, masks and wood carvings preserved in a layer of organic mud within a Calusa Indian shell mound on Key Marco (next to Marco Island). Although he found more than 100 wooden ceremonial masks, statuettes, batons, and heads of animals such as a wolf, sea turtle, pelican, and alligator, Cushing was most fascinated by a wooden deer head.

The Calusa Indians, say archeologists, were hunters and gatherers. Under normal circumstances, hunters and gatherers lead a more primitive, nomadic lifestyle than societies which have developed stable agriculture. Yet early Spanish accounts indicated that the Calusa had a complex social and political organization, an idea reinforced by Cushing’s discovery of sophisticated artifacts.

How did the Calusa have time to create intricate works of art and develop their complex political system? They inhabited the coastal regions of southwest Florida as well as the freshwater wetlands of the Okeechobee Basin. These two rich and diverse environments provided a surplus of food, meaning the Calusa could live in permanent settlements and also hunt seasonally in different areas. As a consequence they had much greater social and political complexity and a larger population density than is typical of hunters and gatherers.

The coastal mangrove and estuary environments provided abundant food and their main building material, shells. They built the islands from oyster and whelk shells, some of which may have been discarded after eating the contents and some of which they brought to those sites specifically for building purposes. They piled empty shells to create dry mounds in this swampy, flat environment. Bare shell mounds probably gave the Calusa relief from insects and the daily inundation of the tides, and provided the only ground above storm surge during hurricanes. Over 100 such shell mounds mark the Calusa territory from Tampa Bay south to the Ten Thousand Islands.

They built shell mounds in various shapes and sizes ranging from small middens (refuse heaps) to large islands up to 150 acres in size. They laid them out in circular, linear parallel row, horseshoe, or donut shape. Based on these varying forms, sizes, and artifacts found on them, the mounds served different purposes, supporting both permanent and seasonal villages and serving as locations for sacred temples and gathering places.

At 150 acres in size and approximately 20 feet above sea level at its highest point, Chokoloskee Island is the largest shell mound in the southeastern United States. It is now the site of the town of Chokoloskee, three miles south of Everglades City on S.R. 29.

Sandfly Island about one mile offshore from the Gulf Coast ranger station in Everglades City is a 75 acre shell mound built in a donut shape with a narrow opening which allows water to flood the interior at high tide. It is believed that when the tide receded the Calusa stretched nets across the opening to catch fish and other marine animals.

What was the Calusa Indians’ fate? They were weakened and killed by diseases like smallpox brought in by European explorers to which they had no resistance. By the late 1700s they had vanished from this area. Only their shell mounds remain.

The Tamiami Trail is an historic road completed in 1928. Its original purpose was to connect Tampa and Miami, Florida. Preliminary surveys for the cross-state segment of the Tamiami Trail through the Everglades were made in August 1915. Workers stood breast deep in the swamps surveying and clearing the right-of-way.

Funding responsibility was given to the cities and counties along its proposed course. The plan worked fine in Dade County with its big tax base. Dade finished its 43 miles of the Trail well before the Collier County stretch was done. But in the sparse lower reaches of Lee County, (the portion- which became Collier County) there were fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. Getting 76 miles of Tamiami Trail through the new Collier County looked fiscally impossible. When Barron Collier bought his wilderness empire, there wasn’t so much of a mile of first class road in Collier County.

But Barron Collier backed a $350,000 loan for the Trail completion and put his own construction company on the job. The most impossible part.of the Collier County Trail was the stretch from just below Carnestown to the Dade line. It was sheer wilderness. The exact date when construction began on this segment is unknown; however, the first payment for work performed was made in September 1916. Work on the road was slow. It took 150 workers to complete 1.25 miles per month. The final 45.5 miles took nearly four years to build.

They drilled the limestone with a 30-ton drill car. Day and night for 28 months it drilled through solid rock. Then they exploded dynamite in the holes they had drilled. Tons of 60% nitroglycerin dynamite prepared the way for dredges. Bay City skimmer scoop machines unloaded sand and rock. They did the work of 50 men leveling the grade thrown up by the dredges. Dredges mounded up fill for road bed embankments. They used wooden tramways for transporting supplies. Caterpillar tractors pulled Austin Western scarifiers during road grading operations about 1927.

Although the name “Tamiami Trail” sounds exotic, it was fashioned by combining the names of its terminal cities, Tampa and Miami.

The completion of the 273 mile Tamiami Trail from Tampa to Miami in April 1928 ended the pioneer era in Collier County. The 13 year project opened the “frontier” area to commerce, settlement, and development. Today, while it remains a vital link for commerce, it is also an outstanding scenic area for thousands of tourists. The Trail links Collier County to Dade County through about 50 miles of awe-inspiring, scenic landscapes of sawgrass and subtropical wilderness. Alligators and birds such as great blue herons, anhingas, and wood storks are often seen sunning themselves or feeding and nesting along the waterways adjacent to the Trail.

The main resource is water, fresh water wending slowly seaward, requiring a day to flow across a full mile of the land’s incredibly unrelieved flatness. Sixty inches of rain fall in an average year that usually begins each year in May. The rains flood the cypress strands and prairies before flowing slowly to the south through Everglades National Park. It is a slow drainage upon which creature’s great and small have learned to depend. Because the water moves so slowly across the vast prairies and through the sloughs and strands, water has time to percolate into the limestone substrate, recharging the superficial aquifers. As the water percolates into the groundwater, or flows out to tide, the vegetation, soil and limestone filter and clean the water.

“Big”, in the preserve’s name refers not to the tree’s size but to the swamp’s extent of more than 2,400 square miles in subtropical Florida. “Swamp” is a misnomer, for the land consists of sandy islands of slash pine, mixed hardwood hammocks (tree islands), wet prairies, dry prairies, marshes, and estuarine mangrove forests. Big Cypress is about one-third covered with cypress trees, mostly the dwarf pond cypress variety. Broad belts of these trees grow around the edge of wet prairies; cypress strands line the sloughs; and occasional cypress domes dot the horizon with the symmetry of paint bubbles. Giant cypresses are nearly gone. They are the great bald cypresses. Today’s few remaining giants, escapees of the lumber era, are extremely old; some as much as 600 to 700 years. Their bulbous bases flare downward and outward to root systems loosely locked in rich, wet organic peat. Their girths outstretch the combined embrace of you and 3 long-armed friends. The bigger bald cypress trees are located in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary about 72 miles from the Oasis Visitor Center.

Bald cypress is a tree growing to 150 feet tall and more than 6 feet in diameter. Its leaves are flat, 1/2 to 3/4 inches long and grow on both sides of the horizontal branchlets. Pond cypress is a smaller tree with awl-shaped or scale-like leaves pressed close to its (sometimes more) pendulous branchlets. Both deciduous varieties lose their leaves in the late fall and regrow them in the spring. Bald cypress grows rapidly in height and diameter having thin, tight bark compared to pond cypress – a small, slow growing tree with thick, shaggy bark. Bald cypress grows at low stem densities in locations with moderate water flow, high-nutrient availability, and rare forest fires. Pond cypress grows at high stem densities on sites with slow-to-stagnant water, low-nutrient availability, and occasional forest fires.

Besides the major exotic plant species Melaleuca and Brazilian Pepper, there are many species known to naturalize in South Florida. Humans have brought numerous exotic plants into the Preserve to produce fruit, landscape homes and camps, and perform other functions such as providing windbreaks or preventing soil erosion. Some of these species have escaped from cultivation and are now naturalized in the Preserve.

Once people find out that the clumps that they see from a distance on the trees are not bird nests, they are ready to explore the world of bromeiliads. These are plants that don’t have to be rooted in the soil to grow. They can grow on other plants. Another name for them is air plants. They make food just like any other green plant – by the process of photosynthesis. It’s just that they get their water by collecting it in their leaves either from condensation or rain. Another famous bromeiliad is the pineapple.

Many wildflowers also appear at the preserve. Morning Glory, Bladderwort, Primrose, Alligator Lily, Grass Pink, Glades Lobelia, Pickerel Weed, Coreopsis, Florida’s official wildflower, Milkweed, and Orchids.

There are several activities available in the preserve to help you plan your next outdoor adventure. Fishing and hunting have been popular sports at Big Cypress for years. There is gun and bow hunting done. Some animals hunted besides the wild hogs and deer are Florida waterfowls and turkeys. It is also legal to take Gray squirrel, quail, rabbit, opossum, raccoon, beaver, coyote, armadillo, skunk, nutria, and migratory game birds in season. There is salt and freshwater fishing, but separate licenses are needed for these. There is an all-inclusive Lifetime Sportsman’s License available for varying prices based on the age of the sportsman. Some fish to be obtained are bowfin, black crappie, bluegill, walking catfish, mosquito fish, sailfin molly, largemouth bass, bream, red drum, Florida gar and Oscars. For more information about hunting and fishing permits, licenses and regulations go to www.myfwc.com.

Another past time is canoeing with a couple of marked trails that take anywhere from four to seven hours to traverse. One trail passes through the preserve and Everglades National Park. Halfway Creek offers the novice canoeist and navigator a unique opportunity to explore the hidden world of a mangrove tunnel. Wildlife may not be as abundant here, but patient observers may catch a glimpse of a manatee moving into the sheltered inland waters in the winter.

Bird watching is another great pastime here. You could see anhinga, the belted kingfisher, turkey and black vultures, the snail kite, the great and snowy egrets, and ospreys, just to name a few.

Bear Island is a great place to ride bikes. In the Bear Island Unit you have to stay on the lime rock roads. You can reach Bear Island by going up the Turner River Road or by going through a gate adjacent to State Road 29 about 4.5 miles north of I-75(Alligator Alley). You can’t take a vehicle through the gate – just your bike. Bicycles are welcome on any of the Preserve’s off-road vehicle trails in other management units. Ask for advice at the visitor center.

Big Cypress offers the hiker challenging conditions. Do not let the lack of elevation fool you! Pinnacle rock, muddy prairies, and waist deep water over trails make hiking here a unique opportunity. Rewards are many – quietly watching an otter eat a fish like you would eat corn on the cob, feeling the wind rustling your hair and cooling your sweating neck. The Florida Trail runs through the preserve. The southernmost sections of the Florida National Scenic Trail lie within the Preserve also. The Fire Prairie Trail is 5 miles round trip. This trail is elevated off normal grade and is dry most of the time, making it an excellent option when other places are still covered in water. Prairie flowers bloom in spring. Best hiking is January through May when cooler temperatures and breezes make the experience most pleasant. Watch for snakes on the trail and signs of otter, bear, deer and raccoons in the cypress strand.

For the experienced hiker only, try off trail hiking. Be prepared and be sure you can find your way back out! Big Cypress National Preserve offers the off-trail hiker miles of exploration and isolation. Follow ORV trails from any trailhead or just strike out on your own path anywhere you would like. Be sure to use GPS and/or compass to ensure your direction finding. Even the best navigators are challenged in this land of flat terrain and varied vegetation patterns. Try hiking the cypress strands or wander through prairies during the dry season.

Exotic plants are displacing native vegetation and destroying habitats needed for ecosystem health. In the Preserve, the melaleuca tree occupied more than 186 square miles of wetlands. Thanks to intensive treatment efforts, we now have few remaining. The tree grows in dense monocultures completely replacing native vegetation. Melaleuca is spreading in south Florida at an alarming rate and has the potential to invade all of south Florida’s wetlands within the next 50 years. The Addition Area acquisition creates an additional challenge to control a greater area of melaleuca trees and other invasive exotic species including java plum (Syzygium cuminii), tropical soda apple (Solanum viarum), old world climbing fern (Lygodum microphyllum), and the Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius).

The climate is sub-tropical, with mild winters and hot, wet summers. Heavy rains occur frequently during the summer months. Light weight clothing is suggested for hot temperatures as well as sunscreen, hat, and rain gear. Make sure you stay hydrated and know the signs and treatment of heat stroke.

Current Park Weather

Mosquito season can occur any time between May and November; however, June through August is usually the worst time. A 20 to 30 percent DEET product usually works best. Be aware that mosquitoes can bite right through T-shirts and other lightweight, tight-fitting clothing. Mosquitoes will bite unprotected skin, so apply repellent to all exposed areas of the body as well as to your clothing. When in high-risk locations or during high-risk times, do not wear perfumed soaps, sprays, or other sweet smelling formulas that might attract mosquitoes. Do not rely on electronic bug killers or ultrasonic repellents for protection. They have not been shown to be effective.

Your safety in the backcountry is your responsibility. Know your route and be prepared for changes in weather and conditions. There is no substitute for backcountry knowledge . If you are unfamiliar with the terrain and hazards, take someone with you who is familiar with the area or ask for advice from those who do. Campers and/or hikers will want to use this backpacking list while on their wilderness adventure: a good backpack and repair kit, a tent with bug netting, a backpacking stove, fuel, matches, multipurpose tool or knife, a candle lantern for light; a compass and GPS unit with extra batteries, a map, water (more than you think you will need – during the dry season there is often no water available for miles so don’t depend on being able to find water to filter!), food – always carry extra food as calories are burnt more quickly when walking in water or through difficult terrain, animal proof container for food, a first aid kit, extra prescription medication if you use it, carry a jacket and waterproof gear for rapid weather changes, cell phone, to be left off until you need it to save battery life and preserve the quiet; long lightweight pants and a long-sleeve cotton shirt over a T-shirt for bugs, boots are a good year-round option for foot protection against snakes, extra socks in case you get wet, sunglasses, and a walking stick for walking in water. Also be sure to wear blaze orange to hike during hunting season from November through December.

Cypress stumps and knees, creeping vines and poking limbs can be hazardous when hiking in some of the densely vegetated areas of the Preserve. Wear sunglasses while hiking to protect your eyes from poking sticks and damaging sun. Use a walking stick to aid your balance while walking in deep water.

Temporary closures may affect certain areas of the Preserve during extreme fire danger, wildlife denning or nesting and safety concerns. Please check with Preserve staff before your hike or watch for signs posted to warn of hazards or closures. The Preserve is closed to viewing of wildlife with artificial lights (spotlighting).

The use of horses and pack animals is permitted in areas open to pedestrian travel except for that portion of the Florida Trail south of I-75. Stockowners must scatter all manure dropped at trailheads. Other regulations apply; please call the Chief Ranger’s Office at Preserve Headquarters (941-695-2000) before your trip. Please note that this is not the best horse country. Limestone solutions holes and wet conditions could endanger your horse. Call ahead for conditions!

Don’t swim in any of the lakes. There are alligators in them. Don’t take small dogs nearby the lakes. Alligators may eat them. Alligators can come quickly out of the water and make a quick dispatch of your pet. To avoid snakes never put your hands in a place where you have not looked in advance. If you are allergic to insect stings, prepare yourself in advance with appropriate medication; insect repellent will not work against stinging insects. Watch your children. Keep them at your side.

In general, you need a freshwater license to take freshwater fish and a saltwater license to take saltwater fish, unless one of the exemptions below applies to your situation. Obviously if you are fishing in pure fresh water where no saltwater species live, you need a freshwater license and likewise if you are fishing in the ocean you need a saltwater license. However, when you get into estuarine (brackish) type areas where salt and fresh water commingle and fish of both types can be found the issue becomes less clear. The interpretation of the rule is: You need either a freshwater, saltwater or combination license (or appropriate exemption) to take fish (take is legally defined as taking, attempting to take, pursuing, molesting, capturing, or killing any fish, or their nests or eggs by any means whether or not such actions result in obtaining possession of such fish or their nests or eggs). If you are using species specific gear, your license should be appropriate (e.g., freshwater or saltwater) to the species you are targeting. Otherwise you need an appropriate type license to keep your catch and must immediately release any species for which you are not licensed. License requirements follow the species of fish, regardless of where they are caught. In other words, if you only have a freshwater license and are primarily fishing for largemouth bass or bream (freshwater species) in a river, but happen to catch a red drum (a saltwater species), you must immediately release the red drum.

There are many rules and regulations for hunting in the preserve. Please contact the park for fees and rules regarding hunting.

All artifacts and shell mounds within Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park are protected by federal law under the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and must not be disturbed.

Big Cypress is home to nine federally endanger-listed species including the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon. Five endangered birds, the snail kite, wood stork, Cape Sable seaside sparrow, and red cockaded woodpecker nest in the Preserve. The endangered West Indian manatee, Florida panther, the threatened eastern indigo snake, and American alligator also live in the Preserve. In addition, six state listed species inhabit the Preserve, the white-crowned pigeon, Florida sandhill crane, least tern, Everglades mink, Big Cypress fox squirrel, and the black bear. The Florida panther is in extreme threat of extinction. The principal threats to the Florida panthers’ survival have been diminishing habitat, automotive traffic, territorial battles between males, and inbreeding. Today the panther population is estimated at 50 breeding adults, whose range centers around Big Cypress National Preserve. An average of 30 to 35 adult and juvenile panthers wear radio telemetry collars for tracking and research purposes as part of the Florida Panther Recovery Program. The genetic restoration program has alleviated the detrimental effects of inbreeding.

Other animals seen in the Preserve are wild hogs, feral hogs descended both from Spanish stock of 1539 and from animals introduced later for open-range hog raising operations. Hogs, as well as deer, are considered a game animal in the Preserve and as such can be hunted only during the general hunting season, November through December. You will also see armadillos, walking catfish that actually crawl over land, and Oscars, an Amazon River basin species. Like other aquarium species, they were apparently released by owners weary of keeping them as pets, but they are popular with fisherman.

Alligators are part of the Big Cypress National Preserve ecosystem and are not a threat unless they have been conditioned by humans. There may be alligators in the ponds just outside the visitor center. A good place to see them is along Turner River Road. Traffic is much slower there than on US 41. You can pull over and watch them without fear of interfering with the fast moving traffic on US 41. Other good places are Shark Valley, Big Cypress Bend boardwalk, and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary boardwalk.

There are many species of birds to be found at the preserve. Although the anhinga is a water bird, it lacks waterproofing oil glands for waterproofing its feathers like most water birds. It has only a poorly developed oil gland. To help it dive and chase fish underwater, its feathers get wet when it goes swimming. However, when it is above water, it must spread its wings to dry in the sun. It can fly with wet feathers but not as well. The anhinga gets its nickname, “water turkey”, from its wide tail. Because of its snake-like neck, it is also known as the snake-bird. See them on Turner River Road. The Belted Kingfisher is a pigeon-sized bird that is blue-grey above and white below with a bushy crest and dagger-like bill. The male has a blue-grey breast band; the female is similar but also has a chestnut belly band. Two species of vulture occur in Florida, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and the black vulture (Coragyps atratus). Vultures eat carrion in the form of road-kills or dead cattle in pastures. Be careful to give them plenty of time to fly out of your way when you approach them feeding in the roadway. They are not fast flyers. They have been known to break out windshields and injure drivers that hit them. Others include cattle egrets, snail kite, the great egret, Killdeer, osprey, Red shoulder hawk, Snowy egret, Tri-colored heron and wood storks.

Never approach wildlife. Although there is little danger of attack by animals here, your approach may be interpreted as a threat. Keep your distance and allow the animal to make its way around you. Do not feed or leave food for them. Store your food out of reach of raccoons, bears and other inquiring critters. Snakes should be enjoyed from a distance – do not attempt to handle or harass them. There are four poisonous snakes found in Big Cypress National Preserve: the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake, water moccasin (also known as cottonmouth) and the coral snake.

Alligators are generally more eager to get away from you than they are to do you harm. However, those along roadways, near picnic areas and other public places may have been fed and have lost their normal caution. If an alligator approaches you – back away and find another route. Alligators can move more quickly than they look like they can. Never get closer than 15 feet! Be aware of where you are stepping at all times when wading through water. Move slowly and place your feet carefully. Carry a walking stick to help you maintain balance and ward off frightened but aggressive animals.

Encounters with Florida panthers are rare, however, always be aware of your surroundings and hike, backpack, camp with a companion. Be alert from dusk until dawn when they are most active and never approach a panther. Most panthers want to avoid humans. Give a panther the time and space to steer clear of you. Encounters with Florida panthers are rare, however, always be aware of your surroundings and hike, backpack, camp with a companion. Be alert from dusk until dawn when they are most active and never approach a panther. Most panthers want to avoid humans. Give a panther the time and space to steer clear of you.

Preserve entrance is free. There are six campgrounds, but only two charge fees of $19.00/night. The primitive campgrounds are free.

Off-Road Vehicle permit – $50.00 annually. Permits for off-road vehicle use can be obtained through the visitor center. Off-road vehicles permitted are swamp buggies, all-terrain cycles (4-wheelers only) and street legal 4-wheel drives ( Bear Island area only). Motorcycles are not permitted.

You are required to obtain a free backcountry permit before hiking or camping in the Preserve. This includes day hiking as well as overnight stays. These permits are available at the major trailheads, or stop by the visitor center to pick one up. The information you provide gives the National Park Service valuable feedback on trail use and types of uses in the backcountry. The permit may also save your life, as it narrows the area we need to search if you are reported missing.

There are four primitive campgrounds in the park. They are Bear Island, Burns Lake, Mitchell’s Landing and Pinecrest. They have no water or rest room facilities. Camping on the Bear Island Unit is permitted only at designated campsites by the use of tents, trailers or self-propelled camping vehicles. Camping is permitted on designated campsites on other units. Primitive camping is not limited to designated campsites except on Bear Island. Campgrounds may close seasonally or temporarily for repairs or resource concerns. Burns Lake is open seasonally. All others are open year round. If you must build a fire make it small and use established fire rings. Contain it in a fire pan or build a mound fire and scatter the cooled ashes afterward. Use small fuels (sticks wrist diameter or smaller) and break into pieces. Fine ash will blow away later. Be aware of fire bans during dry seasons and honor them. If you use a hammock, protect trees with a sock or bandana. Travel and camp quietly. Radios and other noise devices should be left at home. Camp as far away from other campers as possible. If you pack it in; you must pack it out! Inspect your campsite and lunch spot before you leave. Please practice the Leave No Trace principles. Contact the visitor center for current campground information. Visitor Center phone number is 239-695-1201.

The other two campgrounds, Midway and Monument Lake. An outside, cold water shower is also available. The $16.00 per night fee includes use of the dump station at Dona Drive in Ochopee, with RV campsites, but no hook-ups for electricity, sewer or water are available in any of the National Park Service campgrounds in the Preserve. Midway has been recently renovated and is now open year round. This campground offers a dump station, restrooms, drinking water, day-use area, 26 RV sites and 10 tent sites. The RV sites have electric hookups. Tent sites are $16.00/night and RV sites are $19.00/night. Midway campground does not have showers. Monument Lake is open seasonally and offers restrooms, drinking water, outdoor cold water showers, and 26 designated RV sites and 10 tent sites. There are no hookups for electricity, sewer or water at this campground, however, campers are allowed to use the Dona Drive or Midway Campground dump station at no cost. The RV and tent sites are $16.00/night. Campgrounds within the preserve are offered on a first-come first-served basis, no reservations are accepted.

Backcountry camping is permitted, but you are required to obtain a free backcountry permit. Camp on durable surfaces only, to leave the least impact on the land. Remember to wear blaze orange if hiking during hunting season, whether you are hunting or not. Dogs are not allowed in the backcountry due to possible conflicts with wildlife. All trash and food items must be packed out with you-Leave No Trace. Small campfires are allowed at backcountry campsites unless a fire ban is in effect. All human body waste must be buried more than 100′ from water and out of sight of trails.

Monument Lake Campground – Open September 1 through April 15.
Monument Lake campground offers restrooms, drinking water and designated 26 RV and 10 tent sites. An outside, cold water shower is also available. NO HOOKUPS for electricity, sewer or water are available at this campground.

Midway Campground – Open all year.
This campground offers a dump station, restrooms, drinking water, day-use area, 26 RV and 10 tent sites. RV sites allow electric hookup.

Monument Lake Campground
RV and Tent sites $16.00 per night / $8.00 with Golden Age/Access Passport Campers are allowed to use the Dona Drive or Midway Campground dump station at no cost, while staying in preserve.

Midway Campground
RV site $19.00 per night / $10.00 with Golden Age/Access Passport Tent site $16.00 per night / $8.00 with Golden Age/Access Passport Dump Station free to campers.

Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, De Soto National Memorial, Canaveral National Seashore, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Castillo De San Marcos National Monument, Fort Caroline National Memorial, Big Cypress Indian Reservation, Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Okeechobee, Collier-Seminole State Park, and Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve are all close to the park. On the Gulf side and on the way down to Big Cypress, you will find the Homosassa and Crystal Rivers where you’ll find Manatees, Withlacoochee State Forest , Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge and Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park about 4 hours away or approximately 240 miles northwest.

Miami International Airport services the area from the east coast, Ft. Myers International Airport from the west coast.

I-75, state road 29, and U.S. 41 all travel through the preserve.

There is no public transportation within the preserve. The preserve includes 31 miles of the Florida Trail which can be very wet in the rainy season. The Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail is a short, self-guided trail located on Loop Road . Two scenic drives through the preserve provide leisurely wildlife viewing. The Loop Road is a 26-mile, single-lane, unimproved road beginning and ending on highway 41. Turner River Road and Birdon Road form a u-shaped, 17-mile graded-dirt drive.

Approximate Mileage from the following major cities to Big Cypress:

By Car:

Miami, FL. – 75.06 miles

Fort Myers, FL. – 74.59 miles

Naples, FL. – 35.68 miles

Marco, FL. 36.91 miles

Everglades City, FL. – 7.23 miles

By Plane:

Miami International Airport – 69.98 miles

Fort Lauderdale/Holloywood International Airport – 99.24 miles

Big Cypress National Preserve, HCR 61, Box 110 , Ochopee , FL 34141

Headquarters-239-695-2000

Visitor Information-239-695-1201

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