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ENVIRONMENTAL DESCRIPTION:
The Everglades, in Florida, are a wide and plain sub-tropical swampy region in the South of this State.

The agriculture development of Florida had deeply modified and reduced them, but they still form a great hydro-graphic system with the Kissimmee River that flows from Tylor Creek to the wide Okeechobee Lake, very wide (1890 Km2) and little deep (3 m).

The water in excess leaves this lake in the wet season to form the Everglades with a yearly and very slow flooding that can be up to 65 km wide and 160 km long.

Along the coasts, there are the MANGROVES WOODS, just where the salty waters mix with the sweet waters coming from rivers and swamps.
These waters eventually get the Florida Bay, at the southern limit of the State.

This is the general description of the area protected by the Everglades National Park, 6000 Km2, included in the World Heritage by UNESCO.

FAUNA
Its biological richness (vegetable and animal) is still enormous; the swamps and the wet and dry prairies are the paradise for many species of birds, reptiles (the Everglades are famous and feared for their crocodiles) amphibians and mammals, but some of them are very rare, even living only here.
I can report their list:
- American crocodile
- Green turtle
- Atlantic Ridley turtle
- Atlantic hawksbill turtle
- " leatherback "
- Cape Sable seaside sparrow
- Snail (Everglades) kite
- Wood stork
- West Indian manatee (a water mammal similar to a large seal)
- Florida panther (maybe, only 50 individuals exists only here in the Everglades, in an insulated community)
- Key Largo wood rat
- " cotton mouse
- Red-coached woodpecker
- Schaus swallowtail butterfly
- Garber's spurge

ACCESS:
The only highway access is the State Road 9336, running for 61 Km from Florida City to Flamingo.
Except for the main visitor centres and some minor facilities, no economic and touristic activities are present in this Park.
The Everglades are crossed east to west by a payment road, called "Alligator Alley" that is part of the Interstate 75.

ENTRANCE FEES:
- Private non-commercial vehicles: 10.00$ (7 days pass)
- Individual entry (bike, foot): 5.00$ (7 days pass)
- Annual Everglades Pass: 25.00$ (Season)
- Gold Access Pass (for permanently disabled persons): FREE, LIFETIME, IN ALL NATIONAL PARKS.
- Golden Age Pass (1 time fee, for over 62): 10.00$, LIFETIME, IN ALL NATIONAL PARKS.
- Interagency Pass (new, from this year): 80.00$, VALID FOR ALL NATIONAL PARKS AND FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS.
Then, NO reservation is necessary to visit the

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