OUR NATIONAL PARKS CENTENNIAL: at Everglades National Park

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Established in 1947, Everglades National Park spans across 1.5 million acres and protects the southern 20 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest tropical wilderness, the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River, and is visited on average by one million people each year. Go December through April for the best wildlife viewing. I took an airboat ride with Captain Randy of Ride-The-Wind. This was our second airboat tour into the glades and by far the best. The airboat was more comfortable and much quieter so we did not need to use ear protection. Captain Randy showed us numerous birds, alligators and fish. We visited a hunting lodge built on one of the hammocks (islands) that he watches over for a hunting group. We saw a swimming hole next to a large rock where we saw kids jumping into the water. We also saw a river like area close to the swimming hole where a multitude of gators were feeding on bass. I would definitely do this again but I do not think I would go swimming there!

http://www.ride-the-wind.com

2016 Celebrates 100 years of our National Park system.

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Photos

Airboat in the Everglades
Captain Randy of Ride the Wind