American Vacations and Travel: Shark Valley

Continuing our trip to the Everglades in mid-February, 2013, we headed north on Krome Avenue out of Florida City and then west on US 41, the Tamiami Trail. Construciton on the section of the Tamiami Trail between Tampa to Naples was begun in 1915 and on the Naples to Miami portion in 1923. After eight years of construction and at a cost of $8 million, the road officially opened on April 25, 1928. Most of the Naples to Miami section was built by blasting limestone on the north side of the highway and using the resulting rock to build the roadbed. This created an east-west canal with the road effectively damming the various sloughs that drained into the Everglades. Efforts to restore natural water flows to the Everglades have met with mixed success in the 85 years since. Construction of a mile long causeway just west of Krome Avenue is nearing completion. An additional 5½ miles of bridges have been authorized along the first 11 miles west of Krome Avenue.

Our first stop was at Shark Valley, 18 miles west of Krome Avenue. A fee station charges $10 for a 7-day pass that is also valid at other Everglades fee stations. Beyond the fee station is a temporary visitor center and bookstore as well as a concessionaire building that houses a bicycle rental operation and a ticket office for a 2-hour tram ride along the 15-mile loop road. The tram tours are $20 per person and the single-speed bicycles rent for $8.50 per hour. Plan to take about three hours to bike the loop, including some time to stop and watch the wildlife.

We walked the ½ mile Bobcat Boardwalk Trail which utilizes a portion of the loop road and also cuts across the slough. After our walk, we chose to bike the loop so that we could watch wildlife at our pace instead of sticking to a schedule. Since the total elevation change is only a few inches, single-speed bicycles are not a problem. Getting used to using coaster brakes again is another matter altogether. Part of the loop road was built in 1946 by Humble Oil Company using the same methods as those used to build the Tamiami Trail. The resulting canal attracts a wide variety of wildlife during the dry season.