Alt Text Map of Everglades National Park in Florida. Everglades encompasses the southern tip of Florida south of the Big Cypress National Preserve in the northwest, Miami to the northeast, and Biscayne National Park to the southwest. The map includes an array of colors including pale green, light brown, pale yellow, light blue, dark blue, light gray, and dark gray. Extended Description Scores of bays, rivers, keys, sites, and amenities are labeled. This description will focus on the general structure of Everglades and the larger features in the park, starting with the bays and waterways along the Gulf of Mexico to the west, the central portions, and then the tiny islands, or keys, in the southernmost third of the park. Then the locations of surrounding roads and other parks will be mentioned before a full transcription of the legend. Everglades along the Gulf of Mexico The northern border of Everglades cuts in a straight line across the right half of the park. The left half of the northern border drops down before stepping up along the west coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Coast Visitor Center, which has picnic areas and boat tours, is near the top left corner of the map. Everglades City, which has a boat launch, lodging, gas station, and food service, and Chokoloskee, which has a private campground, a boat launch, lodging, gas station, and food services, create a short line running parallel to the gulf in the northwest corner. Faka Union Bay, Fakahatchee Bay, the East River, and Daniels Point are northwest of the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, which is just outside the park boundary. Between the visitor center and Chokoloskee are Chokoloskee Bay, Sandfly Island, and Crooked Creek Chickee with primitive campsites. Keys in the Ten Thousand Islands are clustered densely along the northwest coast of the gulf. Many of them include primitive campgrounds. Moving from northwest to southeast, islands and other features include Round Key; West Pass; Tiger and Picnic keys, both with campgrounds; Indian Key; Indian Key Pass; Kingston Key; Jewell Key with campgrounds; Chokoloskee Pass; Turtle, Lumber, and Rabbit Key campgrounds; Gun Rock Point; Chatham Bend; Mormon Key with campgrounds; Gopher Key; Crab Key Bight; Snake Key; New Turkey and Turkey keys, both with campgrounds; Buzzard, North Plover, Plover, and Bird keys; Alligator Point; Wood Key; Hog Key with campgrounds; Lostmans Key; First Bay; and Highland Point and Highland Beach on Key McLaughlin. Highland Beach has campgrounds. . Continuing southeast are the Lopez River, Sunday Bay, Lopez River primitive campsites, House Hammock Bay, Huston River, Oyster Bay, Huston Bay, Sweetwater Bay Chickee with primitive campsites, Last Huston Bay, The Watson Place with primitive campsites, Chatham River, Deer Island, Chevelier Bay, Darwins Place with primitive campsites, Opossum Key, Cannon Bay, Alligator Bay, Dads Bay, Plate Creek Bay Chickee with primitive campsites, Plate Creek Bay, Lostmans Five Bay with primitive campsites, Two Island Bay, Onion Key, Mullet Bay, First Bay, Second Bay, Third Bay, Big Lostmans Bay, Rocky Creek Bay, Willy Willy with primitive campsites, Rodgers River Bay Chickee with primitive campsites, the Broad River, Camp Lonesome with primitive campsites, the Harney River, Harney River Chickee with primitive campsites, Tarpon Bay, Canepatch with primitive campsites, and the Shark River. The Wilderness Waterway is represented with a dashed blue line that snakes through the park’s many bays before curving like a wide letter S across and down the areas south of the Ten Thousand Islands. The waterway then follows stretches of the Broad, Harney, and Shark rivers before cutting across the southwest tip of the park, north of Florida Bay and its dozens of keys. Chickees in this area create a loose circle around Whitewater Bay, which follows the trajectory of the other features by slicing diagonally from northwest to southeast. Moving clockwise around Whitewater Bay are the following chickees, all with primitive campsites: Shark River Chickee at 11 o’clock, Watson River, North River, and Roberts River chickees before Lane Bay Chickee at about three o’clock. Wrapping around the rest of the bay are Hells Bay Chickee, Pearl Bay Chickee, Hells Bay Canoe Trail, Lard Can, South Joe River Chickee, Joe River Chickee, and Oyster Bay Chickee. Off the southeast corner of this section West Lake has restrooms, picnic areas, a boat launch, and self-guiding trail. Again curving counterclockwise from this area are Coot Bay and Coot Bay Pond; and Cape Sable, which includes Mud Lake Canoe Trail, the Homestead Canal, Bear Lake, the Buttonwood Canal, Bear Lake Canoe Trail, East Fox Lake, Middle Fox Lake, Little Fox Lake, the Cattail Lakes, and Lake Ingraham. Primitive campgrounds are evenly spaced along Cape Sable’s southwest shore at East Cape, Middle Cape, and Northwest Cape. Central Portion of Everglades The Shark Valley Visitor Center along the northern border of the park is just off US Route 41 (Tamiami Trail) and has Bobcat Boardwalk, Otter Cave Hammock Trail, a self-guiding trail, bike trail, tram tour, and a note reading “Bicycles allowed on tram trail.” The Tram Trail travels south from the visitor center to the Observation Tower. Airboat tour sites along US 41 include Everglades Safari Park, Gator Park, and Coopertown. Text along the northern border near here reads, "Recent construction of elevated bridges along this portion of the Tamiami Trail is designed to deliver more sheet flow of water into the park.” Shark River Slough runs diagonally from the northeast corner of Everglades past hardwood hammocks, shown as green comma-shaped streaks, and freshwater marl prairies, shown in beige and down to Canepatch, which has primitive campsites, and Tarpon Bay before reaching Whitewater Bay. The orientation of the hardwood hammocks indicate the flow of water through Shark River Slough. Taylor Slough angles like a backslash along the southern section of the Freshwater Marl Prairie. Northeast of the Taylor Slough, a self-guiding trail connects the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center with the Guy Bradley Visitor Center to the southwest. The trail travels east from the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center past a Park Entrance Station, Long Pine Key, which has picnic areas and a campground, and Pinelands. The trail curves south past the next two sites, the Pa-hay-okee Overlook and Mahogany Hammock, which are off short spurs of the trail. Next are Nine Mile Pond with a picnic area and then West Lake with restrooms, a picnic area, and boat launch before the trail ends on the coast at the Guy Bradley Visitor Center. Southern Everglades A band of yellow lining most of the southern coastline of Florida is labeled the Coastal Prairie to the west. Within this band, the Coastal Prairie Trail, Christian Point Trail, and Rowdy Bend Trail are spaced along the southwest half of the coast. Other sites along the southern shoreline include Clubhouse Beach with primitive campsites, Flamingo with picnic areas and NPS campgrounds, a self-guiding trail at Eco Pond, the Guy Bradley Visitor Center, which has a marina, boat launch, food service, boat tour, and lodging, Alligator Creek with primitive campsites, and about two dozen named lakes, bights, bays, coves, sounds, and keys. Water depths in Florida Bay, which curves off the southern tip of Florida, are indicated in white, light blue, or darker blue. Dozens more keys, banks, channels, basins, creeks, and sounds are named in Florida Bay, which is enclosed by a thin strip of land made up of Key Largo in the east and other keys to the southeast. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Visitor Center is about halfway along this strip of land. Hawk Channel is on the Atlantic Ocean side as are the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, more keys, and ten named reefs. Three primitive campgrounds within Florida Bay include, from west to east, Johnson Key Chickee, Little Rabbit Key, and North Nest Key. A green line just beyond the western coastlines, around Florida Bay, and inside of Key Largo indicates the boundary of Everglades. Thirty-three red teardrop shapes represent lighted markers along this green line, and more point to sites along the shoreline and in Florida Bay. Surrounding Areas Big Cypress National Preserve is tucked into the northwest corner of Everglades. Along US 41 is Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center near Ochopee and Oasis Visitor Center near Monroe Station at the intersection of the Florida National Scenic Trail. Two Water Conservation Areas stretch between the preserve and the city boundaries outside Miami. Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park line the coast south of Miami. The Dante Fascell Visitor Center with boat tours is at the end of North Canal Drive near the Homestead Air Reserve Base. Homestead and Florida City are inland from Dante Fascell Visitor Center. Homestead has lodging, a gas station, and food service; Florida City has a private campground, lodging, a gas station, and food service. Legend A legend in the lower left corner of the map reads as follows: White for 0-3 feet (0-1 meters), Light blue for 3-6 feet (1-2 meters), Darker blue for Over 6 feet (Over 2 meters), Dashed line on green for Hiking trail, White line encased with dashed black lines for Unpaved road, Dashed blue line for Wilderness Waterway and canoe trail, Pink for Wildlife protection area (limited access), Red teardrop shapes for Lighted markers, Angled brackets facing each other on either side of a blue line for Canal and gate, Blue dot for Pumping station, and Light gray for Water detention area. Three columns of symbols represent National Park Service campground, National Park Service primitive campsite, Private campground, Self-guiding trail, Lodging, Picnic area, Marina, Gas station, Boat launch, Food service, Airboat tour, Boat tour, Tran tour, and Bike trail. A scale in the lower right corner measures 1, 5, and 10 kilometers and 1, 5, and 10 miles.