Email page Print page PHOTO Spring camping in Everglades See larger image (Steve Waters) Apr 1, 2005 Map of the Everglades See larger image INTERACTIVE Florida Everglades: Take an interactive tour and gain insight into Florida's unique "river of grass." (Silvia Fausto/Sun-Sentinel.com)

At Shark Valley (305-221-8776) along U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) on the northern border of the park, visitors will find a two-hour narrated tram ride, as well as a 15-mile trail into the park, bicycle rentals, an observation tower, shorter trails and exhibits.

Farther west, the Gulf Coast center (239-695-3311), in Everglades City, offers a narrated boat trip and access to the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mangrove islands and waterways that extends south to Flamingo and Florida Bay. For the more adventurous, the 99-mile Wilderness Waterway, accessible by canoe, kayak or small motorboat, winds through the mangrove islands all the way to Flamingo. Backcountry permits are required for camping.

Finally, the Flamingo Center (239-695-2945), 38 miles southwest of the main entrance, offers natural history exhibits, the Florida Bay Museum, a restaurant (open November through April), gift shop, lodge and campground. Boat tours and canoe rentals are available at the marina. Several hiking and canoeing trails begin at Flamingo or nearby, including the south end of the Wilderness Waterway.

Tent and RV camping also is available at Long Pine Key, seven miles from the main entrance, with restrooms, water, telephones and a sewer dump station with freshwater fill, but no showers or hookups. A picnic area is nearby, with fire grates and restrooms, along with a pond for fishing, an amphitheater for winter programs and several hiking trails. Call 800-365-2267 for reservations at either site during the November-April season.

Wildlife: Fish, turtles, alligators, white-tailed deer and wading birds can be seen from the Shark Valley tower in and around the borrow ponds. Look for red-shouldered hawks, snail kites, northern harriers, and occasional rare short-tailed hawks over the marsh. In the Ten Thousand Islands, expect to see many shorebirds, white ibis, roseate spoonbills, black skimmers (winter and spring), bald eagles (winter and spring), ospreys, magnificent frigate birds (summer), nesting wading birds and brown pelicans, bottle-nosed dolphins, manatees, as well as sharks, rays and other large fish. (January 10, 2006)