It’s true what they say: don’t visit the Everglades during wet season.
We thought we would miss the worst of the mosquitoes in mid-November, but they were still in full-swing when we spent five days here.
Since we were also visiting Dry Tortugas, Biscayne, and Big Cypress while we were down in southern Florida, we had a lot of time to camp in the area. We camped at Long Pine Key, Flamingo, at a private campground up in Chokoloskee, and at a private campground outside of Miami. For a beautiful, scenic campground experience with access to some of the best wildlife in the park, we enjoyed our time at Flamingo.
Trying to separate our positive experiences from the hoards of mosquitos that we had to fight off each night getting into our tent is difficult, but visiting the campground in the dry season (December to May) should be a lot different.
Upsides of camping at Flamingo include a free shower (in a national park?! What?!), pretty sites with palm trees, incredible wildlife (we saw osprey, a manatee, a crocodile, and so many birds near Flamingo), and the experience of being deep inside Everglades National Park.
The biggest downside (in November) was the mosquitos. Also, Long Pine Key offers closer access to some of the more popular spots in Everglades, as well as easier access to non-park activities (like stopping at Robert is Here for a smoothie - a must-do!)
Our five days at Everglades were full: we attended several ranger programs (we especially liked the talks at the Anhinga Trail), Cole tried his hand at slough-slogging (wading in murky water up to your waist? Not for me), we hiked as many trails as we could, and we kayaked the Nine Mile Pond canoe trail.
You can read much more about our five days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Everglades)