Alligators piled up along the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
See the Hiking web page for an interactive location map.
Length: .8-mile loop from the Royal Palm Visitor Center
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
There are two short trails near Everglades National Park’s Royal Palm Visitor Center, the Gumbo Limbo Trail, named after a tree, and the Anhinga Trail, named after a bird. As you might expect, the Gumbo Limbo Trail focuses on the trees and vegetation in the area, and the Anhinga Trail is all about animals. The two trails run in separate directions, so you cannot join them together to form one hike.
To reach the Anhinga Trail, walk out the back of the Visitor Center and follow the paved path, taking a left when it splits. The first section of the trail follows a canal on one side and a pond on the other, and there are plenty of animals to see along the way. I saw alligators, turtles, and all sort of birds, but oddly enough, no Anhingas, at least none close enough to get a good photo.
Comorant along the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
Pond along the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
After .2 mile you will come to the loop portion of the trail. A boardwalk with two observation decks circles a pond full of birds and alligators.
Boardwalk on the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park
Observation deck on the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
Observation deck on the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
It may have just been a busy day in the alligator world, but I saw more alligators on the Anhinga Trail than anywhere else in the Everglades (during a winter visit). At one location they were piled up on top of each other like at a roadside alligator zoo.
Alligators piled up along the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
Baby alligator on the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
While there may be more animals at Shark Valley, the Anhinga Trail is a better way to see them because everything is more compact here. At Shark Valley, the animals are spread out over a fifteen-mile loop road. You can see plenty of animals on the Anhinga Trail while walking less than one mile.
Purple Gallinule on the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
Great Blue Heron wades in the water along the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm unit of Everglades National Park
The Anhinga Trail is exposed to the sun the entire time, so it will get hot in the summer. I’m sure there will be mosquitoes then as well, but in February I saw none.
The loop portion of Anhinga Trail is a boardwalk, Everglades National Park
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Last updated on August 14, 2024
