Description:
This national preserve is named for the vastness of its landscape of cypress, wet prairies, mixed hardwood swamps, and pinelands¾not the size of the cypress trees themselves. Most of the huge, old-growth trees were logged out before 1950. Much of the preserve is flooded throughout the wet season.
Watchable wildlife:
The southernmost colony of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the United States lives in the preserve. It is also home to Florida black bear, Florida panther, white-tailed deer, wild hogs, and Big Cypress fox squirrel. Alligators, turtles, and wading birds (including wood storks, white and glossy ibis, egrets, and herons) are abundant. Look for common nighthawks in the summer and common snipe in the winter. Bitterns, common moorhens, and purple gallinules reveal themselves to patient observers. American swallow-tailed kites nest in the preserve in the summer. Barred owls and great-horned owls are heard in the pine forests throughout the night.
Ownership:
National Park Service Contact:
(941) 695-4111
Directions:
Near Everglades City. Ranger station is south of Interstate 75, on Florida Highway 29.
Related Sites:
Other South West Florida Wildlife Sites
Florida State Parks
National Park Service Site | |
