The eastern leg of the Shark Valley loop winds through a vast sawgrass prairie.
On our return, the clouds broke, the sun emerged, and the strong wind was at our back, making the trip an easy joy. Most of the time we didn’t even need to pedal, as the wind pushed us home.
The self-guiding 0.8-mile Anhinga Trail “winds through a sawgrass marsh, where you may see alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons, egrets, and many other birds, especially during the winter. This is one the most popular trails in the park because of its abundance of wildlife.” The trail starts from the Royal Palm Visitor Center, four miles from the main park entrance and Ernest Coe Visitor Center.
This impressive alligator looks fat and happy.
The Gulf Coast Visitor Center is located 5 miles south of Highway 41 (Tamiami Trail) on State Road 29, in Everglades City, along the west coast of Florida and the Chokoloskee Bay.
The visitor center offers educational displays, orientation films, informational brochures, and backcountry permits. Boat tours and canoe rentals are available. Restaurants, stores, lodging and campgrounds are located nearby.
Big Bend National Park is over 800,000 acres of remote desert and mountains in south Texas. The southern border of the park is defined by 244 miles of the Rio Grande River with Mexico on the other side. Big Bend National Park is the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert in the United States, and includes more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals. (nps, wiki)
We visited Big Bend NP in October 2009. We spent five days hiking in the park, and stayed in a cabin just outside the park in the small town of Study Butte. Following is a photo tour of our trip to Big Bend National Park.
Carro Castellan is a pretty mesa that rises 800 feet above the Chihuahuan Desert (whose name is pronounced like Chihuahua, the tiny dog breed).
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