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Contact: General Information, 305-242-7700
Contact: Media: Allyson Gantt, 786-610-8023
HOMESTEAD, Fla. - On Sunday, November 8 at 2:30 pm, Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry
Tortugas National Parks temporarily closed park entrances and visitor facilities in preparation for Tropical Storm Eta for the safety of visitors and staff. Park concession-operated boat, ferry, and sea plane tours as well as services and rentals have also suspended operations until further notice. Biscayne National Park Institute tours and services are also temporarily closed.
Marine waters in all parks will remain open for boating, but emergency services will be
extremely limited.
No wilderness camping permits will be issued until further notice.
In Everglades National Park, vessels may seek safe harbor in the area of Ponce De Leon
Bay, the Little Shark River between marker 1 and marker 69, and the main tributary of the
Shark River. The Flamingo Marina is closed. Chickees are also closed and vessels are not
permitted to tie off to chickees.
In Biscayne National Park, boats may anchor for purposes of safe harbor at Boca Chita and
Elliot Keys.
In Dry Tortugas National Park, vessels may seek safe harbor within the one nautical mile
anchoring zone around Garden Key, including Bird Key Harbor. No services are available
and Garden and Loggerhead Keys are closed, including the campground, main dock and
visitor courtesy slips on Garden Key and the main dock at Loggerhead Key.
All closures will remain in place until severe weather passes and the National Park Service
makes a determination that employee and visitor facilities are safe. Current status will be
posted as an alert on each park’s website.
If the storm track changes, the parks may issue a new advisory with updated status,
including any lifting of the closures. Please check “Alerts” on the parks' websites for current
information. The NPS Hurricane and Severe Weather Response has updates for all
National Park Service sites.
Last updated: November 8, 2020