The Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades City, Florida is about five miles south of the Tamiami Trail. As there is no direct land access to the Everglades, there is no entrance fee at this location. This is the gateway to the Ten Thousand Islands section of the Everglades, but it was nearly deserted due to the rain that had settled in for a while. Compared to the spacious Ernest Coe and Flamingo visitor centers, this one seemed rather cramped with the number of exhibits on display. While the ranger-led canoe trip that would have been the third leg of the "Tamiami Triathlon" had not been officially cancelled, the volunteer at the counter suggested that it would be cancelled due to the persistent rain. Since we had planned for this to be our last day in the Everglades and Big Cypress area, we didn't have the option of waiting to see if the weather cleared on the following day. If you are like fishing, canoeing, or kayaking and are looking for a friendly, small town without chain restaurants or motels, then Everglades City is the place for you. Our motel room required walking up a flight of stairs and did not have a telephone. The front desk closed around 10 pm. We found the Island Cafe, a local diner a few blocks away, had an excellent breakfast and dinner at a relatively reasonable price. Gasoline at the two local stations was overpriced, even by South Florida standards. It is fairly easy to plan your driving so that you can buy gas in either Naples or the Homestead/Miami area.
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| Stairs or elevator lead to the second floor visitor center |
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| Even though it was raining, the door was propped open inviting us in |
While we had mostly good to great weather on our trip, the rain really limited our options for exploring and enjoying the park in the Everglades City area. That just gives us an excuse to visit south Florida again some winter in the future.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm.