We’re in the middle of fall, and now is a great time to explore the Everglades! As the weather starts to cool down and the “in” season for Florida grows near, there are more activities to do in the park. Also, it is a lot more enjoyable to explore the Everglades, when it’s not brutally hot out!

As a private Everglades airboat company, we know a lot about the Everglades and we love to hear about all the fun activities people do within this beautiful ecosystem (besides jump on an airboat ride, that is!) For this article, we wanted to share with you some fun activities for you to do in the Everglades on a trip during October.

Want to be an Everglades National Park Employee for a day? You can! You can try out managing the Park through the “Park Employee for a Day Geocache Trail.” This trail is comprised of 5 caches from the Main Park Road to Flamingo. The caches each have their own real-world case study for you to figure out how you would deal with a certain issue. Then, you log what you find and your thoughts. This is an ideal chance for you to share your thoughts on the Park.

What is geocaching? It’s a real-world outdoor treasure hunt.  Geocaching is a game where players must locate hidden containers (called geocaches) using a GPS-enabled device while sharing their experience online. For the park ranger geocaching trails, your treasures are the case studies.

The Everglades is packed with animal species, good and “bad.” Unfortunately, there are a lot of invasive species roaming the Everglades who are harming the native species and disrupting that natural order of things.

There are seemingly endless species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and mammals in the Everglades with so much information to share on them. But for this article, we wanted to share just a few basic facts about the native and invasive species in the Park.

The Everglades is vast! So, where do you begin? Although zipping through the wetland on an airboat tour is an amazing way to explore the area, there are several hiking and biking trails in the Everglades National Park that are worth the walk!

When exploring the Everglades by foot, the Park asks visitors to pay attention to the weather, wear proper attire, bring water, and leave pets at home.

We wanted to share with you a few trails that allow you to explore the flora and fauna of the Park.

Typical cypress forest in Everglades National Park, Florida

The Everglades is a scientist’s dream. There is so much to explore, research, track, and investigate in the River of Grass. Research is occurring in the Everglades year-round. From climate change to animals, researchers are learning more about this special Park.

What type of research is occurring in the Park? The South Florida Natural Resources Center (SFNRC) conducts science, which informs the management of the south Florida national park units. Such programs include: wildlife, hydrology, water quality, restoration, invasive plants, and animals. This organization gives out research permits to those who are interested in conducting research from universities, and non-governmental organizations and agencies. The Park gives out permits to support and encourage natural and social science studies with the hope that these studies will help with our understanding of the park’s resources, and how its usage affects/impacts the ecosystem.