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Monday, March 4, 2013

Along the Main Park Road - Everglades National Park


I haven't found a listing of locations along the Main Park Road by mile marker and that may be because there are no mile posts along the route.  However, I put together the following list to help us judge how much time we needed to allow to drive from one place to the next.  These distances are only approximations and do not include the drive off the main road to the parking area, which can be nearly two miles.


Location
Mile
Flamingo
0.0
Bear Lake Road
0.5
West Lake
7.0
Ninemile Pond
11.5
Paurotis Pond
13.5
Mahogany Hammock
18.0
Shark River Slough pull out
19.7
Dwarf Cypress Forest
23.5
Pa-hay-okee
25.1
Rock Reef Pass
26.6
Long Pine Key
33.4
Royal Palm Key
35.6
Ernest Coe Visitor Center
37.7
Park Boundary
38.3

I've already posted information about some of these locations and we did not find time to visit all of the others during our visit in early February, 2013.  The park has an entrance fee of $10.00 per car that is valid for seven days.  The following is just a small sample of the many things that can be seen during the dry season while driving to some of the more popular locations in the Everglades.



Paurotis Pond




Paurotis Pond is one of several rookeries in the park

Calm water 

American Wood Stork

Shark River Slough pull out



While this may look like a mid-western prairie,
the ground is covered in water

A pair of cypress domes

Pineland areas are rare due to the seasonal flooding


Dwarf Cypress Forest




A small elevation change has a huge impact in the Everglades

Dwarf cypress trees are deciduous conifers

Cypress trees yield to pines as the elevation increases

A few cypress still had needles this late in the dry season


Pa-hay-okee




From the elevated viewing platform,
the saw grass seems to be endless

Still on a boardwalk, but closer to the ground

Looking back at the elevated boardwalk reveals a variety of habitats

Buttressed trunks help cypress tress withstand floods


Rock Reef Pass



Rock Reef is the "ridge" that separates Shark River Slough
on the west from Taylor Slough on the east

Saw grass in Taylor Slough

Looking northwest at the tree line that marks
the higher elevation of Rock Reef

Looking south along Rock Reef

The main park road is also known as Ingraham Highway and FL 9336

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm.

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