Typical Primary Backcountry road at Big Cypress National Preserve

Note: Currently all Secondary Backcountry Trails are closed due to a lawsuit against the National Park Service. Trails will remain closed until an environmental study has been conducted to see how backcountry driving is affecting the environment. Keep in mind that even without this ban, secondary trails are always closed for June and July.

Primary trails remain open.

The backcountry at Big Cypress National Preserve is divided into seven sections, four of which have backcountry trails (dirt roads) open to vehicles: Turner River, Bear Island, Corn Dance, and Stairsteps. The Deep Lake, Loop, and Addition units do not have trails, at least none that are open to driving. In addition to traditional off-road vehicles—4-Wheel Drives (Bear Island unit only), Swamp Buggies, UTVs, and ATVs—airboats are allowed in Zone 4 of the Stairsteps Unit. See the Backcountry web page for information on each unit.

Permits are required for vehicles, including airboats, that enter into the backcountry. A limit of 2000 permits are issued each year. These can be obtained either online at Recreation.gov or in person at the Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center on Fridays through Mondays from 9 AM to 1:30 PM. To get a permit you must watch a safety and rules video (which is done prior to coming to the office), have your vehicle inspected (at the Reed Visitor Center during specified hours), and pay for the permit, currently $100 for the year. Thus, you can see that this process is not that appealing to the typical tourist and is geared more for people who live in the area and / or who use the backcountry on a regular basis for outdoor recreation such as hunting, fishing, and camping. For complete details, visit the park’s Off-Road Vehicle Use web page.

The backcountry trails are divided into two categories: Primary and Secondary Trails. Before the park was created in 1978, there was no limit as to where people could drive their swamp buggies and ATVs, for after all, the land was pretty much flat and large areas were treeless. Once the park was established, it was agreed that off-road driving could continue, but it was now limited to the roads that were already well defined. The main roads became the Primary Trails. For detailed maps of these areas, see the National Park Service’s official Designated Trail Implementation web page for Big Cypress National Preserve.

I visited Big Cypress National Preserve in February, the height of the dry season, and I traveled on the Primary Trails during a Swamp Buggy tour and while biking, and to tell the truth, most are just typical dirt roads that any passenger vehicle could drive on. These are not roads where your off-road driving skills will be tested. The only reason that passenger vehicles are not allowed on the roads during the dry season is that there are spots that remain muddy year round. Of course, during the wet season when the roads are underwater and plenty muddy, only off-road vehicles could travel on them.

If you do not want to obtain a permit but would still like to explore the backcountry of Big Cypress National Preserve, all trails are open to both hikers and bikers. Permits are no longer required, but be sure to let somebody know of your plans and who to notify (a park Ranger) should you not return as scheduled.