January 26, 2025.
5.3 mi. | 25′ ele. gain | 3:50 hr.
In reading about the Big Cypress National Preserve, I was drawn to one particular hike: Gator Hook Trail. With a name like “gator hook,” I was a little concerned. But, knowing this is a site run by the National Park Service, which tends to offer pretty non-dangerous hiking for an experienced outdoorsperson, I felt more at ease. Anytime we travel into a new place where we’re not used to the natural hazards (hello, Alaska!), we do lots of research on the actual dangers and how to mitigate them.
I learned that alligator-human interactions resulting in injury or death are extremely rare, and most problems come from people feeding them and engaging with them. I learned that alligators prefer murky water where they can hide, so swimming/wading in clear water is generally not an issue. We began seeing alligators in and along canals since South Carolina, so we were getting used to having them around. But, safety first, we began at the ranger station.
Big Cypress National Preserve
Since we’re not familiar with the area, current trail conditions or other weird wildlife things to look out for, we popped into the ranger station. I almost always find that the best place to start. I asked questions about water levels on the trail, anything I should know about alligators that I didn’t already read about and general advice for attempting this hike. He recommended hiking poles, which was great advice and perhaps something I might have left behind.
Outside the visitor center, a boardwalk ran along a piece of the roadside canal. This place was chock full of wildlife, better than any zoo I’d ever seen! Alligators, egrets, anhingas, fish and who knows what else was lurking in the dark water. Everything was animated. Even the fish were jumping out of the water. One of the volunteers explained that they were coming up for air because the oxygen levels in the water were so low. What a cool experience, and we weren’t even on the trail yet!
An underwater trail
We showed up wearing our Bedrock sandals and carrying our hiking poles for this underwater adventure. This unique trail traverses a cypress swamp, following yellow blazes on the trees. The “trail” tread is made of limestone bedrock, eroded into uneven pockets and crevasses. Since the water is clear, it is usually easy to see what you’re walking on. But if someone is walking in front of you, stirring up sediment and creating waves in the water, it can be more difficult to know what you’re stepping on.
We moved slowly, not only to enable us to see the trail, but also to take in the wonder all around us. We’ve traveled through swamps before, mainly on boardwalks. I’d never had the experience of walking in the swamp.
At times, the water was ankle deep. Sometimes we walked out of the water completely. And in some spots, the water came up to our knees. It was quite the adventure! I loved looking around at the incredible plants that made a living here. The dense stands of cypress trees provided homes for even more plants: air plants, mosses, lichens. Once we found some flowering air plants, I never wanted to leave. It was so wild and beautiful.
At two and a half miles, the trail abruptly ends at a bench. We took a snack break until the mosquitoes found us, then returned the way we came. We encountered one other hiker wading through the most dramatic part of the swamp on our hike back. She was having a glorious hike, but had just reached her turnaround time.
We continued to marvel at all the water, flowers, aquatic plants, trees and silence as we followed the yellow blazes back. What a special place. It stood in sharp contrast to our experience in the Everglades just one day before: busy, busy, busy. I didn’t bother writing it up because you can find a zillion blogs and trip reports about visiting the Everglades. But Big Cypress is somehow a little further off the beaten path.
The next time you travel, I challenge you to find a place that’s not on a top 5 destinations list. Look for city and county parks. Heck, even state parks or something run by NPS that’s NOT one of the 63 National Parks (there are 370 other sites to choose from). You’ll see far fewer people, encounter much less commercialization and still get a stellar experience.
Dispersed camping
We had almost no opportunities to disperse camp on the east coast. This evening, we finally got our chance. The ranger at the visitor center confirmed the area on iOverlander that I was looking at is indeed legal to park overnight. So, we headed out along a long dirt road adjacent to a canal and searched for a wide spot in the road where we could pull off.
Much to my delight, the spot we chose was adjacent to an anhinga nest. I noticed it as I was looking at the wildlife in the canal. Up in a tree, I saw two fluffy white creatures sticking up from a large nest. It took me a few minutes to figure out exactly what I was looking at. But then mom came back and confirmed my suspicion. I watched the three birds until the sun went down. It was so fun to see the goofy babies wobbling around in the nest. In addition I noted several species of herons and egrets as they flew by. The canals are here are chock full of life. It’s wildly entertaining to sit, watch and listen as life goes on outside the van slider door.
The Gator Hook hike is on my top five experiences in Florida list. If I make it back out this way, I’d visit Big Cypress again and maybe even repeat this hike. I’ve done a lot of hiking and I’ve never done anything quite like this before. It’s a bucket list item!