Everglades from Miami and Naples: How to Get There and Which Day Trip to Take

Everglades National Park covers 1.5 million acres of South Florida, and you cannot drive across it. There are three road entrances, and the National Park Service is blunt about the catch: they do not connect with each other inside the park. Which one you choose decides what your day looks like.

Shark Valley, on the Tamiami Trail (US 41) west of Miami, is the entrance closest to the Greater Miami area. It has a 15-mile paved loop into the sawgrass, a tram tour and an observation tower. The three airboat businesses that operate inside the park sit on the same road, a few minutes east.
Homestead, the park’s main entrance, is south of Miami near Florida City. From here one road runs past Royal Palm and the Anhinga Trail to Flamingo on Florida Bay, 38 miles south of the gate.
Everglades City, on the Gulf coast, is the entrance closest to Naples. It is the gateway to the Ten Thousand Islands, which you see by boat.

This guide covers each route from Miami, Naples and the Keys, what you can do without a car, and how the common day trips fit together. For fees and opening hours, see the tickets and entrances guide; for airboats against boats and kayaks, see the airboat tours guide.

Pick the entrance before you pick the tour

Most “Everglades from Miami” searches end in one of two places: an airboat ride on the Tamiami Trail, or a drive into the main park from Homestead. They are different trips.

For an airboat ride, go west on US 41. Airboats do not run from Shark Valley, Flamingo, the Homestead entrance or Everglades City. The park’s own pages list three airboat concessions inside the park, all on US 41 between Miami and Shark Valley.
For the park’s trails, the Anhinga Trail’s wildlife and Florida Bay, go south to Homestead.
For mangrove islands by boat, go to Everglades City, which is far easier from Naples than from Miami.

If you only have one day from Miami, the Tamiami Trail is the simplest: one straight road, an airboat ride and Shark Valley in a single outing. Homestead to Flamingo and back is a long day of driving in its own right.

From Miami to Shark Valley and the airboat stops

The park’s directions are short. From the Florida Turnpike, take exit 25A if you are coming from the north or exit 25 from the south, then follow US 41 (the Tamiami Trail, also SW 8th Street) 25 miles west to Shark Valley. The visitor center’s address is 36000 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33194.

On the way you pass the three airboat concessions that operate inside the national park. The park gives their addresses as:

Coopertown Airboats, 22700 SW 8th Street
Gator Park, 24050 SW 8th Street
Everglades Safari Park, 26700 SW 8th Street

All three are 15 to 20 minutes east of Shark Valley. Everglades Safari Park describes itself as 15 miles west of the Turnpike. Other airboat rides marketed as “Everglades” tours, including many sold from Fort Lauderdale, run outside the national park; the airboat tours guide explains how to tell them apart.

The Shark Valley gate is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily, so this is not an evening drive. Its parking is the real constraint. From December into April, the park says, parking is extremely limited and usually fills by 10 a.m., and once it is full one car can enter only when another leaves. On the busiest winter weekends and holidays the wait at the entrance station can be over an hour. The park’s own advice is to come on a weekday and to arrive before 10 a.m. or after 3 p.m.

What to do at Shark Valley

Private cars stop at the parking lot. Beyond it, the 15-mile loop is for walking, cycling or the tram.

The tram tour. A narrated tour of about two hours, run by the park’s concessioner. On its 2026 rate card adults (13 to 61) pay $36, seniors (62 and over) $27 and children (3 to 12) $19, on top of the park entrance fee. From May 1 through December 18, 2026, trams leave at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., with an extra 4 p.m. departure on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday weeks. Last winter, from December 20, 2025 through April 30, 2026, they left every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; check the new winter timetable before you go.
By bike. Rental bikes cost $27 for the day; rentals start at 8:30 a.m., the last goes out at 4 p.m. and all must be back by 5 p.m. A typical ride round the loop takes 2 to 3 hours. E-bikes are allowed. Helmets are required for children under 16.
On foot. Two short trails leave the loop near the start: Bobcat Boardwalk (0.2 miles, accessible) and Otter Cave (0.3 miles, unpaved).

Halfway round the loop, 7 miles from the parking lot, is the observation tower. The tram company gives its deck as 45 feet high, with views up to 20 miles in every direction. There is a water fountain at the tower but very little shade along the way, and the bike concessioner warns that there is no other drinking water on the road. Only snacks are sold at Shark Valley, so the park recommends bringing lunch.

From Miami to the Homestead entrance

The main entrance is at 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, FL 33034, with the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center beside the gate. From Miami, take the Florida Turnpike (Route 821) south until it ends and merges with US 1 at Florida City. Turn right at the first traffic light onto Palm Drive (State Road 9336, also SW 344 St.) and follow the signs.

The main entrance is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and the park points out that you will not get locked in overnight. The visitor center keeps shorter hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from April to mid-December and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from mid-December through March.

Beyond the gate, one road leads to the park’s best-known short walks:

Royal Palm and the Anhinga Trail, 4 miles (6 km) from the entrance. The trail is 0.8 miles (1,200 meters) round trip, wheelchair accessible, and runs through sawgrass marsh where you may see alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons and egrets, especially in winter. The park calls it one of its most popular trails.
Pa-hay-okee Overlook, 13 miles (21 km) from the entrance: a 0.16-mile (260 m) boardwalk loop with a raised platform over the “river of grass”. It reopened in winter 2026 after a full renovation.
Flamingo, at the end of the road, 38 miles from the entrance. The park’s own reservations page puts the Flamingo marina 50 miles from the town of Homestead. Two boat tours leave from the marina, and there is a lodge, a restaurant, a campground and rentals.

There are no airboats on this side of the park. The park says the three airboat concessions are about one hour north of the Coe Visitor Center, on US 41.

From the Florida Keys

Coming north from the Keys, you reach the Homestead entrance without going near Miami. Turn left off the Overseas Highway (US 1) onto Palm Drive in Florida City and follow the signs to the park. If you want an airboat ride on the same day, budget the hour’s drive north to the Tamiami Trail.

From Naples and the Gulf coast

From Naples, two entrances are within reach.

Everglades City. Take US 41 (the Tamiami Trail) east toward Miami for approximately 35 miles to County Road 29, turn right and continue approximately 3 miles into Everglades City. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center is at 815 Oyster Bar Lane. From I-75 (Alligator Alley), take exit 80 (State Road 29) and drive 20 miles south.
Shark Valley. Approximately 70 miles east on US 41. The airboat stops are a little further east again.

Everglades City is the gateway to the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mangrove islands and waterways that the park says can only be reached by boat. Guided 2-hour boat tours run daily from Everglades City; the park describes a 49-passenger pontoon boat led by trained guides and joined occasionally by park rangers. The new visitor center, opened in 2026, has a kayak launch and a picnic area. There are no airboat tours from this entrance.

Between the two, Shark Valley to Everglades City is 40 miles west on US 41, then about 3 miles south on County Road 29, so a Naples visitor can do Shark Valley in the morning and an Everglades City boat in the afternoon.

Without a car

This is where the Everglades gets awkward. In the park’s words, the City of Homestead’s trolley is the only public transportation offered to anywhere inside the park. It runs seasonally, from approximately December through April, to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center and Royal Palm. The city runs its trolleys as a free service; check its schedule and reservations before relying on it.

Ride-hailing looks like an answer but often is not. At both the Homestead entrance and the Gulf Coast visitor center, the park warns that visitors arriving by Uber, Lyft or taxi have been unable to get a return ride, and suggests arranging the return with your driver. There is no other public transportation to either site.

That leaves three realistic options:

A guided day tour from Miami with transport included. Most combine transport with an airboat ride, but not all go to the same place: some use an operator outside the national park, such as Sawgrass Recreation Park. Compare them on the tours page.
A rental car, which gives you the choice of entrances and lets you stay for the late light.
A ride to one of the airboat concessions with a pre-arranged return, if all you want is an airboat ride.

Day tours from Miami: what to check

“Everglades tour from Miami” covers several different products. Before you book, check four things.

Where the airboat runs. If the operator’s address is one of the three on SW 8th Street listed by the park, the ride is inside the national park. If it is elsewhere, it is not, which does not make it worse, but it is a different place.
Whether the park fee is covered. Everglades Safari Park, for example, includes a National Park Service fee of $8 per visitor in its airboat ticket. A tour that enters the park itself pays the park’s commercial vehicle fee, which depends on the size of the vehicle.
The nonresident fee. The park now charges each non-US resident aged 16 and older a $100 nonresident fee on top of the standard entrance fee, unless they hold an Annual or America the Beautiful pass. The park says this applies to visitors in commercial and concessioner tour groups too, so overseas visitors should ask whether a tour’s price includes it.
How long you spend in the Everglades. Many tours are mostly driving. Compare the time on the water or on the trail, not the length of the day.

Three ways to plan the day

The Tamiami Trail from Miami. Leave early to reach Shark Valley before the parking fills at 10 a.m. Take the tram or rent a bike for the loop, then drive back east 15 to 20 minutes for an airboat ride at one of the three in-park concessions. Everglades Safari Park, for example, sends airboats out every 20 to 30 minutes and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The main road from Homestead. Start at the Coe Visitor Center, walk the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm, stop at Pa-hay-okee, and continue to Flamingo for a 90-minute boat tour. The Whitewater Bay tour leaves daily at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. year-round; the Florida Bay tour runs from November 1 to April 30 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Cell reception is unreliable at Flamingo, so download maps before you set off.

Everglades City from Naples. Take a Ten Thousand Islands boat tour in the morning, then drive east to Shark Valley for the afternoon loop, or to the airboat stops beyond it.

When to go

South Florida has two seasons, not four. The park’s dry-season page covers November through April and calls it one of the most popular times to visit, for the lower temperatures, fewer mosquitoes and abundant wildlife: average highs of 77°F and lows of 53°F. In the wet season, from May to November, average highs reach 90°F, humidity runs over 90%, afternoon thunderstorms are expected daily, and the park notes that as water levels rise the animals disperse, which makes wildlife harder to see.

The park’s own pages draw the season line slightly differently from one page to the next (its weather page puts the dry season from about December to mid-May), so treat the boundaries as approximate. The practical rule is simple: winter is better for wildlife and comfort, but also when Shark Valley’s parking fills.

What to bring

Water. There is very little shade on the Shark Valley loop and no drinking water on the road apart from the fountain at the tower.
Insect repellent. The park warns that mosquitoes and biting flies may be present year-round and can be severe in summer.
Food. Only snacks are sold at Shark Valley and at the visitor center bookstores; the Flamingo Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
Distance from wildlife. Stay 15 feet (5 meters) from all wildlife. Touching, feeding or harassing animals is illegal, and alligators and crocodiles can move fast.

Pets are not allowed on any park trail or on the Shark Valley loop.

Frequently asked questions

How far is the Everglades from Miami? Shark Valley is 25 miles west of the Florida Turnpike on US 41. The Homestead entrance is at the end of the Turnpike, just past Florida City. Flamingo is 38 miles beyond that gate.

Can I see the Everglades without a car? Only partly. The seasonal Homestead trolley, from approximately December through April, is the only public transportation into the park. Otherwise, take a tour with transport or arrange a return ride in advance.

Which entrance is best for airboats? None of them. Airboats inside the park run from three concessions on US 41 east of Shark Valley, not from the park entrances.

Is the Everglades a day trip from Naples? Yes. Everglades City is about 35 miles east and 3 miles south of Naples, and Shark Valley approximately 70 miles east, both on US 41.

How long do I need? A Shark Valley tram tour takes about two hours, and a bike ride round the loop typically 2 to 3 hours. Add an airboat ride and the drive, and the Tamiami Trail fills most of a day. Homestead to Flamingo and back is a full day.