Do you want to see an alligator? Do you want to see many alligators? Then you need to visit Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park.
It’s along Highway 41, better known as the ‘Tamiami Trail’, crossing the broad marshes stretching from Miami’s suburbs to Naples. The park is the third largest national park in the Lower 48.
Shark Valley’s name comes from Shark River Slough, one of the marshes’ many water sources. In fact, there are no sharks, and the area was once described as a ‘valley mostly by imagination.’
Find alligators by walking or cycling Shark Valley’s 15-mile, looped trail with an observation tower at the halfway point. The tower is also surrounded by a pond that is frequented by gators. And if you don’t feel like walking or biking, two-hour tram tours are a popular back up. Just be sure to give the gators plenty of space, they tend to be territorial.
