Most people meet the Everglades from the window of an airboat on the edge of Miami, and leave thinking they have seen it. The national park itself is quieter and stranger: a slow, shallow river of sawgrass that runs to the sea, with alligators sunning themselves beside the path and wading birds working the shallows a few metres from your feet. It is also a park with three separate front doors, no road linking them, and, since January 2026, a new charge for overseas visitors that changes the maths of a day trip.
This guide makes the decisions for you: what you will pay at the gate (and whether you owe the new $100 non-resident fee), which of the three entrances suits the trip you have in mind, and why the dry season from December to April is the window to aim for. Every fee, time and rule below was checked against National Park Service pages and the park's own concessioners as of October 2026. Prices and schedules change, so treat them as a starting point and confirm before you set off.
What you pay at the gate
Everglades runs a simple seven-day pass. You pay once, and the pass covers every park entrance for a week, which matters here because most visitors who enjoy their first day want to try a second entrance.
As checked October 2026, a private vehicle pass costs $35 and covers everyone in the car for seven consecutive days at all park entrances. A motorcycle pass is $30, and anyone arriving on foot, by bicycle or in a paddlecraft pays $20. Visitors aged 15 and under are free. [1]
The park no longer takes cash. Pay by card at the entrance station, or buy a digital pass online before you go, which is the easier option if you plan to start on the Gulf Coast (see below).
US citizens and residents can buy an Everglades-only annual pass for $70, or the America the Beautiful annual pass, which covers all federal recreation sites, for $80. The non-resident version of America the Beautiful costs $250. [1]
The $100 non-resident fee, explained
This is the change that catches international visitors out. From the start of 2026, Everglades became one of a short list of US national parks that charge non-residents an extra fee on top of the normal entrance pass.
The National Park Service lists a non-resident fee of $100 per person for non-US residents aged 16 and older, charged in addition to the standard entrance fee. It is waived for visitors who enter with an annual or America the Beautiful pass, and it also applies to people visiting on commercial and concessioner tours. [1]
Tour operator Gate 1 Travel reports that the fee took effect on 1 January 2026 at 11 parks, including Everglades, Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. It says the fee is waived on proof of US citizenship or residency, such as a US passport, a state driver's licence or ID, or a Permanent Resident Card, and that the $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass covers the holder and up to three more adults aged 16 and over. [9]
The arithmetic is worth doing before you leave home. Two overseas adults arriving by car for a single day would pay $35 for the vehicle plus $100 each, or $235 in total. If those same two travellers are heading to any of the other surcharge parks on the same trip, the $250 non-resident annual pass is already cheaper, and it removes the per-person fee for the whole car of up to four adults.
Three entrances that do not connect
The single most useful thing to understand about the Everglades is its layout. The park has a northern side reached from Miami or Everglades City, and a southern side reached from Homestead. You cannot drive through the middle.
The park says its three entrances and the interior Flamingo Visitor Center are each at least an hour's drive apart, and that the entrances are not interconnected. A car is needed, and there is no public transport within the park. [3]
In practice that means picking one area per day, not trying to tick off all three. Here is how they differ:
- Shark Valley (north, off US 41 west of Miami): the classic short visit. A flat loop road through open sawgrass, an observation tower, and the tram tour. Best if you have half a day and want to see alligators with almost no effort.
- Homestead and the main park road (south): the deepest look at the park by car. Start at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, walk the Anhinga Trail, then drive on to Flamingo on Florida Bay. Best for a full day or an overnight.
- Gulf Coast at Everglades City (northwest): the water side of the park. Mangrove islands, kayaking and boat tours into the Ten Thousand Islands. Best if you are coming from Naples or Florida's west coast.
Shark Valley: the tram, the tower and the parking queue
Shark Valley works because it is so simple. A paved loop heads out into the open marsh, and the wildlife tends to line the canal beside it. You can walk part of it, cycle the whole thing, or ride the narrated tram.
The Shark Valley Tram Trail is a flat, paved 15-mile loop and the only way to reach the Shark Valley Observation Tower. The park notes that wildlife is especially abundant in the dry winter months. [5]
Private cars cannot go beyond the entrance road and parking lot; the loop and tower are reached only on foot, by bicycle or by tram. The park warns of long waits between 10am and 3pm, says parking can run on a one-car-in, one-car-out basis, and advises arriving 1.5 to 2 hours early for a scheduled tram tour. [4]
The concessioner's tram tour lasts about two hours. As checked October 2026, it lists adult tickets (ages 13 to 61) at $34, seniors (62 and over) at $26 and children (3 to 12) at $18, with the park entrance fee charged separately. In the 2025–26 winter season, tours ran hourly from 9am to 4pm, against four departures a day the rest of the year. [6]
Book the tram ahead in winter and treat the time on your ticket as the end of your journey, not the start: the queue for the car park is the real bottleneck. If you would rather not plan around a tour, cycling the loop gives you the same view at your own pace, and the early morning is cooler and quieter.
Airboats are not part of the Shark Valley visit. The park notes that the private airboat operators are along US 41, about 15 to 20 minutes east of Shark Valley, so you can do both on the same day if that is on your list. [4]
Homestead to Flamingo: Anhinga Trail and the long road south
The southern entrance is the one to choose if you want a sense of how the Everglades changes from freshwater marsh to pine, cypress, mangrove and finally the open water of Florida Bay. The main park road runs all the way to Flamingo, and the best short walk in the park comes almost immediately.
The Anhinga Trail is a 0.8-mile (1,200 m) round trip that starts at the Royal Palm Visitor Center, about four miles from the main entrance at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center. It is wheelchair accessible, bicycles are not allowed, and the park lists alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons and egrets among the wildlife, with birding especially good in winter. [7]
Give the Anhinga Trail an hour even though it is short. The joy of it is standing still: birds dry their wings on the rails, and in the dry season alligators gather in the remaining water right beside the path. Go early or late in the day, when the light is softer and the coach groups have not yet arrived.
Flamingo, on Florida Bay at the end of the road, reopened with a new 24-room lodge built from shipping containers, a restaurant and the rebuilt Guy Bradley Visitor Center. The park describes it as about two hours from downtown Miami. [10]
Flamingo is the base for boat tours, kayaking, camping and houseboats on the south side of the park. If you want to see the Everglades at dawn and dusk, when it is at its best, a night here saves you the long drive back to Homestead in the dark.
Gulf Coast: the new visitor centre and the Ten Thousand Islands
The Gulf Coast is the least visited part of the park for people coming from Miami, but it is the obvious entrance if you are staying in Naples or travelling down Florida's west coast. Here the park is a maze of mangrove islands, and you see it from the water.
The new Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center at Everglades City opened in 2026, replacing facilities destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Ian in 2022. It is open daily from 9am to 5pm, with a kayak launch, restrooms and boat tours to the Ten Thousand Islands. Airboat tours are not offered from this location. [8]
There is one practical wrinkle. The park's Gulf Coast page says entrance passes cannot currently be bought at this visitor centre, while its fees page lists it as a place to pay by card. Rather than find out on arrival, buy a digital pass online before you set off. The park also warns that ride-hailing drivers may not be available for the return trip, so come in your own car.
When to go: aim for December to April
Timing shapes an Everglades trip more than almost anything else. The landscape is driven by water, and the amount of water decides how easy the wildlife is to see and how much the mosquitoes will bother you.
The park describes the dry season as typically December through April and the wet season as May to November, though it varies from year to year. The wet season can bring a lot of mosquitoes, and many ranger-led programmes are not offered in the quieter summer months. [2]
In the dry season, water collects in the remaining pools and channels, and the animals gather with it. That is why winter is when the Anhinga Trail and the Shark Valley loop are at their best, and also why they are at their busiest. With the season opening in a matter of weeks, it is worth booking any tram tour or Flamingo stay soon if your dates are fixed.
For busy winter weekends, the park recommends visiting Homestead and Shark Valley on weekdays and arriving before 10am. [3]
A simple plan for your visit
- Check your status first. If you are not a US resident and you are 16 or over, budget $100 per person on top of the $35 vehicle pass, or buy the $250 non-resident annual pass if you are visiting other surcharge parks.
- Buy your pass online. The park is cashless, and a digital pass removes any doubt at the Gulf Coast.
- Pick one entrance per day. Shark Valley for a half day from Miami, Homestead to Flamingo for a full day or overnight, Everglades City if you are coming from the west coast.
- Go between December and April, on a weekday if you can, and be at the gate before 10am.
- Book ahead in winter for the Shark Valley tram, and arrive well before your departure time to allow for the car park queue.
- Bring insect repellent anyway. The dry season is the gentler season, not a bug-free one.
For the latest fees, closures and conditions, start with the park's official fees page and the directions page before you leave.
Sources & further reading
- 1. National Park Service: Everglades entrance fees and passes
- 2. National Park Service: Everglades basic information
- 3. National Park Service: Everglades directions and transportation
- 4. National Park Service: Shark Valley Visitor Center
- 5. National Park Service: Shark Valley Tram Trail
- 6. Shark Valley Tram Tours: hours and rates (park concessioner)
- 7. National Park Service: Anhinga Trail
- 8. National Park Service: Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center (Gulf Coast)
- 9. Gate 1 Travel: U.S. national park non-resident fee notice
- 10. National Park Service: Flamingo grand opening announcement
