The Everglades also known as “River of Grass” is a unique treasure found in South Florida–a gem of an ecosystem. It is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United State, consisting of 1.5 million acres of saw grass marshes, mangrove forests, and hardwood hammocks dominated by wetlands. An international treasure as well–it is a World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Importance, and a specially protected area under the Cartagena Treaty.
It is home to endangered, rare, and exotic wildlife which has developed over thousands of years into a balanced ecosystem–an unparalleled landscape that provides important habitat for numerous rare and endangered species like the manatee, American crocodile, and the elusive Florida panther. To visit these timeless mangroves, swamps and swirling waters inhabited by both alligators and crocodiles– shrouded in mystery and myth yet close to civilization– is to walk around in geologic time. Hard to believe South Florida encompasses the worlds of Miami and the Everglades!