At the 7-mile mark on the Shark Valley Loop Trail stands the 65-foot tall Shark Valley Observation Tower, which is open to the public.

You can see the tower for at least 3 miles on a clear day.

The Shark Valley Observation Tower provides a 360-degree view of the Everglades sawgrass prairie.

You can see the damage in the trees and shrubs from the hard freeze south Florida experienced this winter.  Notice the straight west leg of the Shark Valley Loop Trail on the upper left of this photo, and the twisty east leg on the upper right.

This American Alligator is the closest we’ll come to a dinosaur outside of Jurassic Park.

You don’t want to fall out of the tower into this alligator nest!

The large, deep “gator hole” surrounding the observation tower provides an inviting nesting area for alligators.  On this day we saw about 2 dozen gators around the tower.

The Shark Valley Tower provides a terrific view of the Everglades swamp as far as the eye can see.

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