Two centuries ago, much of Central Florida and most of South Florida was saturated with wetlands—swampy terrain that encompasses everything from marshes and sloughs to cypress domes and strands, wet prairies, bayheads and bogs.
Today, that landscape still exists in managed pockets of parks and green swampland. In fact, the massive Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve in west-central Florida is a good example. Spanning 870 square miles across parts of Pasco, Polk, Lake, Hernando and Sumter counties, the Green Swamp gives rise to four major rivers and welcomes fishing, hiking and trail trekking.
Following are a few more choices for organized fun in the swampy wilds of the Sunshine State.
Babcock Wilderness Adventures
It’s only a half-hour away from the Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center in Punta Gorda, but Babcock Wilderness Adventures feels much further away in time.
“It’s old Florida as it was hundreds of years ago, with birds, animals and alligators in their natural habitats,” says Cheryl Dierken, the company’s tour manager. “We’re trying to preserve that side of Florida.”
Visitors board rugged swamp buggy-type buses for 90-minute jaunts across the 90,000-acre Babcock Ranch and Telegraph Cypress Swamp, glimpsing alligators, panthers, deer, turkeys, all kinds of birds and Florida Cracker cattle, which come right up to the buggy, Dierken says.
Tours can accommodate a maximum of 117 at a time. An on-site restaurant is open seasonally through April, but groups are always welcome to arrange their own food and beverage, Dierken notes.
Billie Swamp Safari
More authentic experiences await at Billie Swamp Safari, a 2,200-acre wildlife park located on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation west of Fort Lauderdale and offering a full day (or night) of adventure. Swamp buggy eco-tours and airboat rides are on the agenda, along with reptile and birds-of-prey shows, while visitors can expect to come face-to-face with a variety of native and exotic animals—deer, antelope, bison, bobcats, alligators, crocodiles, wild hogs, raccoons, tons of birds and the newest addition to the Billie menagerie, otters and a brown bear.
The Swamp Water Cafe offers Seminole fare as well as American favorites, and if you stay overnight at Billie’s rustic camping village, you’ll sleep in a traditional chickee (thatched-roof dwelling). Large chickees housing up to 15 picnic tables also are available for group events and dining, says Melissa Sherman, Billie’s director of marketing.
“What’s nice is we’re on the Seminole Indian Reservation,” she says. “It’s something a lot of people don’t get to experience—the real Florida.”
Everglades National Park
An eco experience like no other is waiting in Everglades National Park, set between Miami and Naples and representing the southern one-fifth of the historic Everglades ecosystem. Within its hardwood hammocks, cypress swamps and mangrove estuaries, the Caribbean tropics and temperate North America fuse to provide a subtropical refuge for a unique assemblage of animals, including alligators, crocodiles and 48 other kinds of reptiles; mammals such as marsh rabbits, river otters, white-tailed deer and the endangered Florida panthers; and an abundance of birdlife.
Groups can certainly strike out on their own along the paths and elevated walkways that traverse the “river of grass,” but four visitor centers offer park and activity information and are the launch point for tram tours, ranger-guided tours and self-guided walks.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
Part of the western Everglades in Southwest Florida, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary’s 13,000 acres include the last remaining virgin bald cypress forest in the world, home to a nesting colony of endangered wood storks. The sanctuary also serves as an important habitat for the Florida panther, the Florida sandhill crane, the roseate spoonbill, the snowy egret and the Florida black bear, among many others. Swamp walks, bird walks and ancient forest walks are among the programs offered here, while the Blair Audubon Center features a variety of educational exhibits along with two classrooms available for group rentals.
