On the morning of April 16, we left Key West, continuing our electric road trip to all 51 National Parks in the Lower 48 states. We headed back up the Florida Keys to Homestead, which would be our base for visits to the other two National Parks in southern Florida: Everglades at the southern tip of the state, and Biscayne in the waters south of Miami.
Homestead, with Biscayne to the east and Everglades to the west, served as the centrally located home base for our visit.
The two parks, located only a few miles from one another, can be considered a pair, allowing a single hotel as a base for visiting both. Homestead, with Biscayne to the east and Everglades to the west, served as the centrally located home base for our planned five-night, four-day visit.
Arriving in the early afternoon, we headed first to the Biscayne Visitor Center to orient ourselves to the park. It turns out that the Visitor Center is almost the only part of the park on land—95 percent of the park is water.
The key to enjoying Biscayne is to get out on the water, and the key to that is to visit the Biscayne National Park Institute center, located in the same building as the Visitor Center.
The key to enjoying Biscayne is to get out on the water, and the key to that is to visit the Biscayne National Park Institute center, located in the same building as the Visitor Center. The institute is a non-profit organization that provides all the organized boat trips in the park, devoting part of the proceeds to support the park, which has no entrance fee. The people working in the center provided lots of useful information on the different types of boat trips, and we made reservations for later in our visit.
We then headed over to Everglades, with a stop at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center at the Homestead entrance. A very helpful Ranger there gave us great tips on what to see in the park.
We started our visit to Everglades in the mid-afternoon with a car trip on the main road that runs 38 miles through the park to its southern tip at Flamingo—a great way to get a feel for the park.
We started our visit to Everglades in the mid-afternoon with a car trip on the main road that runs 38 miles through the park to its southern tip at Flamingo. This was a great way to get a feel for the park, and there are several places to stop along the way for short hikes to spots of interest.
The Ranger had promised that we would see alligators on the Anhinga Trail, and it did not disappoint.
Our first stop, highly recommended by the Ranger, was the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm. This is an easy .8-mile walk on a boardwalk through typical Everglades terrain. The Ranger had promised that we would see alligators on the Anhinga Trail, and it did not disappoint. The trail also features a variety of birds, including the Anhinga.
At Pa-hay-okee Overlook, a short walk takes you to a beautiful overlook where you can see a good representation of the “river of grass” that constitutes the heart of the Everglades.
Traveling further down the road, we stopped at the next recommended spot, the Pa-hay-okee Overlook. A short walk takes you to a beautiful overlook where you can see a good representation of the “river of grass” that constitutes the heart of the Everglades.
The Mahogany Hammock is like a small rain forest in the middle of the Everglades.
Further down the road, we stopped at Mahogany Hammock. Hammocks are islands of high ground within the Everglades that harbor large trees. The Mahogany Hammock is like a small rain forest in the middle of the Everglades. A highlight was seeing a Barred Owl peering down on us from a tree overhead.
We had hoped to see manatees at Flamingo, the southern tip of Everglades, but were disappointed to miss them. We later learned that the manatee population has suffered an 11 percent decline over the past year.
Our trip continued to Flamingo, the southern end of the park, where there is another Visitor Center—currently closed for renovation. The area also has a marina and campground on the tip of the Florida peninsula, overlooking the Florida Bay. We had hoped to see manatees here, but were disappointed to miss them. We later learned that the manatee population has suffered an 11 percent decline over the past year as a result of slower sea grass growth caused by algae blooms stimulated by fertilizer runoff into the local waters.
Our return trip got us back to Homestead before sunset, making the road to Flamingo the perfect first half day in Everglades.
Shark Valley, at the north end of the park, is the base for a 15-mile bike loop that runs through the Everglades.
The following day we drove to the north end of the park to an area called Shark Valley, which is a strange name because it is not a valley and there are no sharks. This is the base for a 15-mile bike loop that runs through the Everglades. The Visitor Center there rents bikes for the day. The bikes are not much to look at, and they have only one gear and no hand brakes, but they are perfect for this trip.
The bike loop was the highlight of our Everglades visit. We saw lots of alligators, Great Blue Herons, and cranes, and the trip gives you a good feel for the vastness of the Everglades.
The bike loop was the highlight of our Everglades visit. We saw lots of alligators, Great Blue Herons, and cranes, and the trip gives you a good feel for the vastness of the Everglades. There is an observation tower at the mid-point of the loop, which gives a great view of the area. The alligators are so numerous that you eventually stop stopping to take photos. But we were glad we stopped for one that had six babies swimming nearby.
The Everglades are the only area of the world where both alligators and crocodiles live together, but we saw mostly alligators.
Following our bike tour, we drove to the northwest corner park, Big Cypress Swamp Center. We didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy there, but were glad we checked it out to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
Our first trip at Biscayne—paddle boarding among the Mangrove trees—proved to be the highlight.
The following day we turned our attention to Biscayne National Park, taking advantage of the reservations we had made two days earlier at the Biscayne National Park Institute. Our first trip—paddle boarding with our guide, Byron, among the Mangrove trees—proved to be the highlight of our time in Biscayne. An eight-mile boat trip across Biscayne Bay took us to Jones Lagoon, which is now one of the uninhabited Keys at the outer edge of the park.
We paddled between the land areas and through Mangrove tunnels, enjoying a perfect sunny day and views of several stingrays.
The preserved state of the northern Keys—and indeed Biscayne National Park itself—are a lasting legacy of several benefactors, but none more interesting and important than Lancelot Jones.
The preserved state of these northern Keys—and indeed the park itself—are a lasting legacy of several benefactors, but none more interesting and important than Lancelot Jones, who sold his family land in the area to the National Park Service rather than see it developed into a southern extension of Miami.
Mangrove trees and the sea grasses that grow in the bay provide valuable protection against storms and a nursery for the fish and other sea creatures.
The preservation of the northern Keys—together with their Mangrove trees and the sea grasses that grow in the bay—also provides valuable protection against storms to the mainland and a nursery for the fish and other sea creatures that spend their first few years sheltered and nourished by the Mangroves.
For our second day in Biscayne National Park we took another Institute boat trip—this time a morning snorkeling trip to the outer keys and to the reefs beyond.
For our second day in Biscayne National Park we took another Institute boat trip—this time a morning snorkeling trip to the outer keys and to the reefs beyond. After the eight-mile boat trip across the bay, we first snorkeled within a shallow area protected by Elliot Key, the longest of the northern chain in the park. Then we traveled two miles beyond the Keys to a reef. Unfortunately, the water was a little rough as the winds were starting to pick up. We were disappointed not to be able to go to one of the wrecks in the area—especially one of the favorites, the Mandalay—but we were fortunate to be the last trip to the reef for the rest of the week due to increasing winds.
We hadn’t planned anything for the afternoon, but as we were eating our lunch at the Visitor Center after the snorkeling trip, we noticed another boat preparing for the Heritage trip to the outer keys and on to Boca Chita Key at the northern end of the park. Even though the trip was sold out, our guide from the morning snorkeling trip, Frank, got us on the boat. His helpfulness was typical of the Institute staff, which operate as a team working to give visitors a positive experience.
We enjoyed the three-and-a half-hour Heritage trip. It was a great boat ride and another chance to learn about the interesting history and environmental importance of the park.
We were glad we had a chance to enjoy the three-and-a half-hour Heritage trip. Not only was it a great boat ride on a perfect afternoon, but it was also another chance to learn about the interesting history and environmental importance of the park. The end point of the trip was a brief stop at Boca Chita Key.
The lighthouse at Boca Chita provides a commanding view of the area.
Unlike the other Keys in the park, Boca Chita is not in its natural state, having been developed by Mark Honeywell (yes, that Honeywell) as a site for parties for his wealthy friends. The Key eventually became part of the park system and is now a great stop on a tour of the park. Its (non-functioning) lighthouse provides a commanding view of the area.
Overall, Everglades and Biscayne both proved to be unexpected high points of our electric tour of the National Parks. Of course, it helped that we had spectacular weather every day of our visit.
Lodging
Homestead is centrally located for a visit to Everglades and Biscayne National Parks. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn-Homestead and were pleased with our choice. The room was spacious, clean, and quiet. The location was convenient, and the staff was helpful. The only downside was that the hotel did not have EV chargers, although Hilton Garden Inn hotels in other locations do. At the time of our visit, no hotels in the area offered Destination Chargers or other Level 2 chargers, which is a major deficiency. That made us totally dependent on the Tesla Supercharger station in nearby Florida City (see below).
We never found great places to eat in Homestead. We tried a couple of highly rated Mexican restaurants, which were both disappointing, and we ate our last dinner at the Ocean Grill at Black Point, which was only okay. Sadly, our best dinner was the one we got at the Chipotle near our hotel.
Charging
Our previous stop in Key West to visit the Dry Tortugas demonstrated the value of destination chargers at hotels. In contrast, our stay in Homestead demonstrated the inconvenience of not having chargers at hotels.
Our stay in Homestead demonstrated the inconvenience of not having chargers at hotels.
We made our trip from the Keys to Homestead without needing access to a Supercharger, but once we arrived in the area our only charging option was the Supercharger in Florida City, which is adjacent to and south of Homestead.
Without access to a Destination Charger, we had to stop at the Supercharger in Florida City while eating lunch before heading to the Visitor Centers at Biscayne and Everglades. That was not particularly inconvenient since we had to stop for lunch anyway. But due to the size of Everglades and the need to drive from one area to another, we ended up using the Supercharger three times during our stay and once more the morning we left Homestead to head north. All those stops could have been avoided if our hotel had a Destination Charger or other Level 2 charger for overnight charging.
Supercharging at Florida City (35 kWh @ $0.38) $13.30
Supercharging at Florida City (29 kWh @ $0.38) $11.48
Supercharging at Florida City (24 kWh @ $0.38) $9.33
Supercharging at Florida City (41 kWh @ $0.38) $15.81
Supercharging at Florida City (22 kWh @ $0.38) $8.50
Total Supercharging $155.68
Hiking Trails and Other Activities in the Parks
The activities at Biscayne and Everglades National Parks include boating experiences at Biscayne, courtesy of the wonderful Biscayne National Park Institute, and a range of hiking, biking, and wildlife observation activities at Everglades. We felt like we had covered all the highlights in our day and a half at each park.
Anhinga Trail .8 miles
Pa-hay-okee Overlook .2 mile
Mahogany Hammock .4 mile
Shark Valley bike loop* 15 miles
Total Hiking Miles 32.2 miles
* They were one-speed bikes, so we’re counting these miles!
Impressions
Everglades and Biscayne are “twin” parks, allowing a central lodging location for both parks and giving flexibility on which park to visit each day. We enjoyed both of these parks were a pleasant surprise. Everglades is a unique environment, and the car trip down the road to Flamingo, combined with the bike ride at Shark Valley, allowed us to appreciate the vastness of the area and the diversity of the wildlife. And there isn’t another place on Earth where you can see the diversity of wildlife you can see at Everglades. Biscayne is the perfect complement to Everglades, allowing visitors to alternate time on the water boating and snorkeling with time spent on the hiking and bike trails available at Everglades.
Visit Duration: We had planned to spend five nights and four full days plus a half day when we arrived in the area. We found that three and a half days were enough to see all the highlights. We felt like we had taken full advantage of Biscayne in our day and a half there. There were other things we could have done in another day at Everglades, such as the airboat rides in the northern section of the park, but we felt that a day and a half were sufficient to experience the park.
We got lucky and saw our first rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center.
On the morning of April 20, we left Homestead, heading back north up the Florida coast. We used the bonus day we gained from cutting short our stay at Everglades and Biscayne to stop back at Titusville to try to catch the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch scheduled for April 21. This time, we got lucky and saw our first rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center from the grandstands right in front of the launch pads used for the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions—one of which was occupied during our visit by NASA’s new Space Launch System that will return astronauts to the Moon in a couple of years.
After the launch, we traveled to Georgia and then to Atlanta the following day on the way north to our next National Park, Great Smoky Mountains.