Florida's National Parks

Images from The Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Torgugas National Parks

One of the great things about using the National Parks as (one of) our travel bucket list is that we get to experience things we've never tried before.  We've been to Florida probably over 20 times in our life, to visit parents or to take in the usual theme parks.  However, we had never been to any of the three National Parks in the state.  Planning our spring 2024 get away seemed like the right time to hit them all in a week.  I found a decent rate in Homestead at the Best Western Gateway to the Keys, which is more like a  motel.  Nothing fancy, but it did have a nice pool and an ok breakfast.

Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park covers 1,542,526 acres in southwest Florida, making it the 11th largest National Park.  Unlike most National Parks, Everglades National Park has three entrances in 3 different cities. Homestead is the main entrance for Everglades National Park, while the only approved companies providing air boat tours are on the north side of the park, closest to Miami. This was our first time on an air-boat, and it took about an hour. We did see a few alligators, and heard stories of catching pythons in the park from our boat guide. He catches them as a side job, since they are an invasive species eating the wildlife in the region, and have killed an estimated 90% of the native animals in the park. They were once kept as pets but are now considered one of the most concerning invasive species in the park. A 2012 study found that populations of raccoons had declined 99.3 percent, opossums 98.9 percent, and bobcats 87.5 percent since 1997.

Everglades National Park has a unique sign at their Homestead entrance, known as 'the potato', and you'll see why below. We enjoyed our first stop on our three national park road trip, completed with a stop at King Krabz, a fast food shrimp boil and crab restaurant.

Biscayne National Park
Our second park was just a 30 minute drive east of Homestead, at Biscayne National Park.  There is a visitor center and a short walk along the shore, but since 95% of the park is water, we knew we'd have to get on the water to really take in the park.  We booked a half day snorkel trip, and stopped in two different areas to dip in within the park.  The guides on the boat are from the area and very passionate about sharing the stories of how the park was founded, and the different areas within the park.  One of the most interesting was that the Florida Keys do not begin at Key Largo. To the north lie nearly 50 more keys (ancient coral reef islands) that are virtually undeveloped. The fight to protect these last unspoiled keys culminated over 30 years ago with the creation of Biscayne National Monument.  

Overall a beautiful day on and in the water, despite a brisk wind making getting back in the boat just a little challenging.  We topped off the day by eating at Red Crab Grill & Seafood, a little bit nicer place that delivers your steamed seafood to your table in a bag.  Yummy, but I think the fast food place was better!

The next day we made our way along the keys, driving three hours to Key West for one night.  If you ever check out hotel prices in Key West you'll know why.   We stopped in Islamorada to check out Robbie's, and took a pick with Betsy, Islamorada's Giant Lobster. After much searching I found an acceptable rate at the Truman Hotel, which had friendly staff, very nice rooms and walkable to all that Key West has to offer.  After we checked in at our hotel, we walked around and then stood in line (😜) to get our selfie at the southern most spot in the contiguous US (last year we hit the northern most location).  After a few more stops including a great open air bar with live music and the most dollars we've ever seen stapled to a ceiling (and we've seen a lot), we went to bed early to rest up before our next adventure, a 7AM ferry to Dry Tortugas.

Dry Tortugas National Park
Our last stop was Dry Tortugas National Park, another park with a fascinating history. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the park is known the world over as the home of magnificent Fort Jefferson, picturesque blue waters, superlative coral reefs and marine life, and the vast assortment of bird life that frequents the area.  I would guess at least half of the people making the trip to the park were there for birds.

To access the park (without owning your own sea worthy boat) your options include seaplane at $1000 per person or a 2.5 hour ferry ride (one way).  Again, slightly windy sea conditions made our journey challenging.  You know it's going to be bad when they are selling Dramamine before departure.  It actually was not that bad going out to the key but coming back with 6-8 foot swells was, shall we say, an adventure. We did ok but a few people got sick. 

An amazing National Park with very interesting history. Why would the US build the third largest fort in the middle of the Gulf? The tour guide explained it well (and in his opinion the NPS does not do it justice), and the map in the photos below somewhat explains it.  The US had to control the primary shipping routes to and from the Gulf, essentially controlling the routes to the heart of our country where primary shipping of supplies went through and from the Mississippi.  The logistics of getting 16 million bricks, tons of slate, water (there is none on the island) to this remote location in the mid 19th century is nothing short of a miracle.  The bricks came from multiple locations, including Mexico, Florida, and Maine. The fort's construction began in 1846 and used bricks from Mexico and Florida until 1861. After that, bricks from Maine were shipped in to finish the construction. The bricks from Maine are darker in color than the ones from Florida. There is currently an effort underway to restore some of the structure to avoid further deterioration.  The last image in the photos below is from the NPS and is a great view of the fort from above.

After getting off the ferry, we drove about an hour and a half to stay the night at Looe Key Reef Resort at about 1/3 the cost of Key West!  Another motel set up and certainly nothing fancy, but there was an open air restaurant on site, a welcome sight after a long day on the water.  

The next day on our way back to Miami, we stopped in Islamorado again, this time to try out Florida Keys Brewing Company.  We almost considered staying in Islamorada for the night, but really didn't want to drive into Miami on a Monday morning for our flight the next day.  We ended up finding a great rate at TownePlace Suites Miami Airport, got some takeout and enjoyed our last day relaxing with our feet in the pool.  What a whirlwind trip!

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Have you been to any of the National Parks in Florida?  Leave your comments below!  Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.