When most visitors picture Florida outside the cities and theme parks, they think of the Everglades, a vast wetland forest and prairie at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula that is home to alligators and exotic birds. Few roads enter the everglades. Instead, visitors must experience them on foot or by boat.

Everglades National Park was established in the late 1940s. At 2,100 square miles in area, it is the second-largest national park in the lower 48 states. The park is home to 600 kinds of fish, 300 types of birds, and the largest mangrove forest in the world.

Travelers can enter the park at one of several entrances. Most come to the east entrance, just south of Miami. There they can tour the Ernest F. Coe Visitors Center, and the Royal Palm Visitors center. Both offer interpretive programs and exhibits and are a source of maps and information about the park. A drive of about 40 miles into the middle of the park brings one to the Flamingo Visitor's Center, which is surrounded by campgrounds, motels, and cottages. There, it is possible to charter a boat, rent a canoe, or take a sightseeing cruise.

The Ten Thousand Islands area of Everglades National Park is on Florida's west coast south of Naples. The mangrove islands in the part of the park are hauntingly beautiful. The water around them is home to stingrays, manatees, and alligators. In the air are ospreys, herons, ibis, eagles, egrets, and roseate spoonbills. Naturally, the best way to see this area is to take a boat tour.