Class trip to the Everglades



Class Trip to the Everglades Q: I am a 5th-grade teacher in a small school in Daytona Beach. I would like to take my class as well as 6th, 7th and 8th graders to the Everglades for a weekend for a chance to ride on airboats or swamp buggies. I would like for them to be able to stay the evening in the Everglades. Do you have any suggestions on where I would begin my task of making such plans? Thank you! -- Angel A: That sounds great, Angel. Our next generation needs to experience nature and learn about the environment so these children will have a desire to protect it. As we mention on this site about visiting the Everglades for the first time (linked below), the Homestead entrance to Everglades National Park is a good way to begin. Kids will enjoy the museum-quality displays at Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center near the entrance. And just a few miles down the road from the entrance, visitors can walk the Anhinga Trail boardwalk at Royal Palm Visitor Center, where it's easy to see wildlife. All the way at the end of the park's main road is the Flamingo Visitor Center, which sits on Florida Bay; here, you can take a boat tour. (You might even see a flamingo!) You may already know, however, that airboats and swamp buggies are forbidden within the boundaries of Everglades National Park. Park policy maintains that airboats contribute to noise and air pollution and can disrupt natural wildlife behavior. Swamp buggies, also known as off-road vehicles or ORVs, leave deep tracks and grooves in the land and contribute to erosion. (In August 2003, a federal judge ruled that the National Park Service's restriction on ORVs in neighboring Big Cypress National Preserve was justified because ORVS had "carved thousands of miles of trails into the preserve, harming habitat for panthers and other endangered species," according to a news report.) You can see a lot of the national park right from the main road, via the boat tours and along the trails at the visitor centers. But if you still feel you have to take an airboat trip, try Everglades Holiday Park west of Fort Lauderdale. Camping at Everglades National Park is fun. Campsites are largely shade-free, so be forewarned. Everglades Holiday Park also has a campground. See more tips on planning your visit to Everglades National Park. If you have time, consider also stopping at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge near Boynton Beach so your students will get the chance to see a northern section of the Everglades and extend their education about this great wilderness. Read the current Q&A Do you have a question? Contact the editor.
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