Everglades National Park Gulf Coast Visitors Center

LOCATION

815 Oyster Bar Lane,
Everglades City, FL 34139

VIEW MAP

PHONE

239-695-3311

CALL NOW

Gulf Coast Visitor Center and Everglades City entrance ARE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE IAN


The largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, Everglades National Park protects an unparalleled landscape that provides important habitat for numerous rare and endangered species. Everglades National Park includes the largest protected mangrove forest in the northern hemisphere, the vast estuary of Florida Bay, and cultural resources chronicling approximately 10,000 years of human history.


The Everglades is an expansive area of land in south Florida, which consists of 1.5 million acres of wetland. This one of a kind National Park, is also; a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Importance, and a specially protected wilderness area under the Cartagena Treaty. Nearly flat and surrounded on three sides by rising seas, Everglades National Park is already feeling the effects of a warming climate. Sea-level rise has brought significant changes that are being observed on the landscape, and more are sure to be seen in the years ahead.

Since the park covers such a large area of south Florida, planning is a must. There are three entrances to Everglades National Park and they are not connected, they are accessed through different areas of south Florida. The Gulf Coast Visitor Center serves as the gateway for exploring the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mangrove islands and waterways that extends to Flamingo and Florida Bay accessible only by boat in this region. The visitor center offers educational displays, orientation films, informational brochures, and backcountry permits.

(The original Gulf Coast Visitor Center was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in September of 2017. In October of 2022, Hurricane Ian severely damaged the temporary Visitor Contact Station. Gulf Coast Visitor Center and Everglades City entrance are CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.)


page information credit: content and/or imagery provided courtesy of - National Park Service
photos from the sources listed above, as well as publicly posted online sites with thanks to the contributors