Vast expanses of cypress strands cover much of this unique landscape of 729,000 acres, set aside in 1974 to ensure the conservation of the natural, scenic, and recreational values of the Big Cypress Watershed. The importance of this watershed to the adjoining Everglades National Park was a major consideration for its establishment.

Big Cypress is named for the vastness of its landscape of cypress, wet prairies, mixed hardwood swamps, and pinelands, not the size of the cypress trees themselves.

Birdwatching here is spectacular. The southernmost colony of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the U.S. lives in the preserve. It is also home to Florida black bear, Florida panther, white-tailed deer, wild hogs, and Big Cypress fox squirrel. Alligators, turtles, and wading birds (including wood stork, white and glossy ibis, egrets, and herons) are abundant. Bitterns, moorhens, nighthawks, snipe and purple gallinules reveal themselves to patient observers. American swallow-tailed kites nest in the preserve in the summer. Barred and great-horned owls are heard in the pine forests throughout the night.

• Big Cypress National Preserve -

• Bring your binoculars, stroll through the wetlands, and watch for white and glossy ibis, wading herons, endangered wood storks, and alligators.
• Backpack some of the 31 miles of Florida Trail through subtropical woodlands, prairies, and wetlands.
• Amble along the Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail and learn about the complex ecology of this wildlife-rich preserve.
• Take time to view the wildlife along the two scenic drives through the preserve.