Day Trip Trails in The Everglades

During our day trip to the Everglades on this past year’s National Public Land’s Day in September. Kevin and I also hiked a few more short and simple trails in the Everglades directly off the main road through the south part of the park.

As we made our way deeper into the park, we stopped at three more trails; the Mahogany Hammock Trail, the Pinelands, and Pahayokee Overlook. All of these were simple trails that took under 20 minutes to complete and would be fine to do with you children or older family members. However, they did allow for some beautiful views of expansive environment of The Everglades National Park.

These trails are also part of our Everglades video so watch it to get a more wholesome snapshot of our afternoon enjoying a sunny Florida day outside! This trip into The Everglades truly was a great Miami day trip out of the city.

The Shaded Boardwalk Trails in The Everglades

It felt great to get out of the heat and into the shade as we made our way into the thick tree cover along the boardwalk trails. However, a raised boardwalk means there is water, and fresh water in Florida more than likely means mosquitos. This especially true when that fresh water is the slow moving waters of the swamp. Definitely don’t want to forget the repellant.

As we made our way along the shaded walkways, we were able to appreciate the thick wildness that exist in the Florida Everglades. Although the majority of this National Park is made up of the flat marsh populated by thick tuffs of Fakahatchee grass, the tangled masses of trees that dot the horizon are beautiful in their convoluted nature.

Visiting the Largest Mahogany Tree in the US

The Mahogany Hammock Trail offers a treat along its boardwalk that both delights and inspires. Within the twisting branches of gumbo limbos and strangling figs, there is a break from the mass where a beautiful specimen lives. This specimen is the largest living mahogany tree in the United States.

Standing tall and proud, this mahogany tree is surprisingly easy to miss. In fact we zipped through the entire trail so fast, trying to avoid mosquitos, that we completely missed the large tree the first time around. However, we quickly doubled back and located the beauty whose thick branches reach up toward the sun, covered in bromeliads and resurrection ferns.

Sunset Along the Trails in the Everglades

We finished up our day of exploring the simple trails in the Everglades by watching the beginning of a beautiful sunset over the swamp. The greens of the vegetation blurred together in an encompassing tone of brown on its way to black as the wind slightly picked up speed. We made our way back to the car and we headed out of the Everglades similar to how we enter them; with a smile on our faces and the heat of the day clinging to our skin.

The day trip out to The Everglades was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And with little prior planning and preparation, we were able to have great day outdoors!

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