The final preserve facility heading west on the Tamiami Trail is the Big Cypress Swamp Welcome Center. This new building is just west of the preserve headquarters. The center is actually three buildings with a common roof. The eastern building is a theater, the center building contains the bookstore, some excellent exhibits, a visitor information counter and staff offices. The western building houses restrooms with running water. The welcome center is an interagency facility for all public lands within the Big Cypress Swamp. The movie is the same one that is shown at the Oasis Visitor Center. It provides an excellent orientation to the preserve. There is no entrance fee to the preserve.
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| Welcome Center |
Behind the building is a boardwalk adjacent to one of a series of canals. This is usually one of the best places in the preserve to see manatees, but the rain obscured any motion below the water surface. Red mangroves line the edges of the canals.
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| Red mangroves in the rain |
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| Red mangroves line the canal |
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| Boardwalk with benches |
The preserve website is http://www.nps.gov/bicy/index.htm.