Everglades National Park: Bobcat Boardwalk Trail (Blog Hike #242)

Trail: Bobcat Boardwalk Trail

Hike Location: Everglades National Park, Shark Valley

Geographic Location: west of Miami, FL (25.75676, -80.76579)

Length: 0.5 miles

Difficulty: 0/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: May 2008

Overview: A short boardwalk trail through the northern end of Shark Valley Slough.

Trail Information: http://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/shark-valley-trails.htm
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=721652
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: Take US 41, the Tamiami Trail, west out of metropolitan Miami.  The trailhead is at Shark Valley, which is located 18 miles west of SR 997, the last intersection in metro Miami.  Pay the park entrance fee, and park in the large blacktop parking lot at Shark Valley.

The hike: For my general comments on Everglades National Park, see the Anhinga Trail blog entry.  If you have always thought of the Tamiami Trail (US 41) as a great wilderness scenic drive based on how it appears on a map, you will be very disappointed with the US 41 you see today.  Dead straight for most of its length, the route follows the south bank of an ugly manmade canal.  Even worse, the Miccosukee Indians have set up a series of casinos and souvenir stands across the road from Shark Valley, so this area almost has the appearance of a tourist trap.

            Yet once you get inside the park, the feel of a great wilderness emerges.  The canals along US 41 supply the park with much needed water, although the supply is not as great as it once was or should be.  Nevertheless the wet areas that remain still teem with life, and Shark Valley, located just inside one of the inlets from the canal, provides a great opportunity to see it.

            In fact, one does not even need to hike in order to see Shark Valley and the downstream Shark River Slough.  Guided tram tours depart regularly from Shark Valley, allowing you to view the so-called River of Grass from the comfort of an open-aired cart.  These tours take visitors through the heart of the Everglades and culminate at an observation tower in the middle of the slough.

Tram tour bus at Shark Valley

            Either after the tour or while waiting for the tour to begin, the park offers a pair of short trails departing from near the Shark Valley Visitor Center.  The gravel Otter Cave Hammock Trail takes visitors on a 0.8 mile round-trip journey through a small tropical hammock, home to much wildlife.  The Bobcat Boardwalk Trail described here is shorter and closer to the Visitor Center, so it makes a perfect diversion if you have just a few minutes to kill before the tour begins.

            The trail begins along the paved tram road about 300 feet south of the Visitor Center.  The hiker-only boardwalk, in contrast to the tram road on which bikes are allowed, begins immediately.  Although the elevations only vary by a few inches on this trail, the trail alternates between sunny wetland prairies and tropical hardwood forests.  The hardwood forests grow on the dryer, higher lands, whereas only the sawgrass community can survive on the lower wetlands.

Bobcat Boardwalk

            Several benches along the way provide rest should you need it.  After only 0.35 miles, the boardwalk ends on the other arm of the tram road.  A right turn would take you on the 15 mile tram journey to the observation tower, so you should turn left and walk the 500 feet back to the Visitor Center.  Keep your eyes open even as you get close to the Visitor Center: when I hiked this trail, I saw a mother and her several week-old baby alligators swimming around in a shallow pool on this last leg of the hike.  This goes to show that something interesting awaits at every turn and straight stretch in the Everglades.

Baby alligators