National Parks & Preserves of Florida
Tour Description
Discover Florida’s National Parks and Preserves—magnificent places where nature lovers flock each year to see sawgrass prairies, coral reefs, cypress forests, and abundant wildlife. Everglades National Park is home to more than a dozen endangered species. Big Cypress National Preserve, named for the abundance of cypress rather than tree size, offers a mosaic of swamp, wet prairies, freshwater marshes, and forests of saw palmetto. Biscayne National Park is truly distinctive—95 percent of the park is water. And Dry Tortugas National Park is home to Fort Jefferson and one of the most pristine coral reef systems in the continental United States.
ParkScapes Highlights
Wildlife Watching Everglades National Park boasts a wide variety of flora and fauna—from flooded grasslands and forested hammocks to the Florida manatee and the American crocodile. Big Cypress hosts a cypress swamp rich in wildlife and rare plants, including many varieties of orchids. Biscayne National Park is home to the clear waters of Florida Bay, portions of the third largest coral reef in the world, and over 200 species of fish. Dry Tortugas National Park, a cluster of seven coral islands, houses a remarkable variety of fish and over 300 species of migratory birds.
Historical Sites The historical highlight of Dry Tortugas National Park is Fort Jefferson, the largest brick and masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere and the largest of the forts from Maine to Texas. It never saw military action, but served as a U.S. military prison during the Civil War.
Comfortable Accommodations Ivy House is favored among NPCA travelers for its charm.
See Dry Tortugas slideshow.
