Big Cypress National Preserve

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Big Cypress and Big Thicket in Texas were designated the same year, creating a new category in the National Park System: land protected but still open to hunting, to off-road vehicles under permit, and to traditional use by the Miccosukee and the Seminole, who hold permanent rights to occupy and use it. It exists because of what was nearly built here. In 1968 work began on a jetport meant to replace Miami International, and one runway was finished before Native Americans, hunters and conservationists together stopped it in 1970. The preserve runs across Collier, Monroe and Miami-Dade counties, about forty-five miles west of Miami. It is wet cypress forest, dwarf pond cypress, mangrove and orchid, and the Florida panther lives in it. The southern end of the Florida National Scenic Trail is here. The Tamiami Trail and the Loop Road run through it, and the driving is much of the visit. Visitor centers run films and ranger programs, with swamp walks and canoe trips through the winter