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Fire Activity
Currently there is fire activity within the Preserve. More »
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Campfire Ban in Effect.
Due to severe fire conditions campfires restrictions are currently in place. More »
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2013 Zone 4 Closure
Beginning at 12:01 am Monday, April 8, 2013, the Zone 4 airboat access within Big Cypress National Preserve will be closed due to low water conditions. More »
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Campground Closures
Beginning Monday, May 13 through Friday, August 16 camping will be available at the Midway Campground and the “loop” in the Bear Island Campground within Big Cypress National Preserve. All other established campgrounds will be closed. More »
Staying on the Trails at Big Cypress
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Contact: Bob DeGross, 239-695-1107
With the designation of Off-Road Vehicle trails throughout all of Big Cypress National Preserve, the National Park Service is working hard at getting the word out to ORVers that staying on designated trails is imperative. Over the next two weekends National Park Service staff will be handing out informational notices and actively enforcing designated trail use. Those visitors traveling off designated trails may face the loss of their vehicle permit and operators permit for up to one year. "This is a good time of year to take this action," stated Pedro Ramos, Superintendent. "It's the opening day of one of the more popular hunting seasons and there will be many people going into the woods. We have to let those that want to access the backcountry using an ORV know that the success of this trail system depends on them." The use of ORVs, such as swamp buggies, to access remote areas of the Big Cypress Swamp has been taking place since the 1920s. It is a long-standing mode of access for those wanting to escape to the woods of South Florida. When the Preserve was created in 1974, Congress, through the enabling legislation, directed the National Park Service to continue managed ORV access. Maps of the designated trail system and information on how to suggest trails for consideration may be found at - |
Did You Know?
Mermaid sightings have been reported by sailors throughout history who often blamed the part-woman, part-fish beings for leading them astray. But folklore experts believe that what those sailors were seeing were not mermaids, but rather air-breathing manatees, or their dugong relatives. More...