Murali Narayanan Photography

Everglades National Park offers a stunning and diverse landscape that captivates both wildlife and landscape photographers exploring the park by car. With its vast sawgrass marshes, cypress domes, and coastal mangroves, the park provides ever-changing scenery that looks spectacular in different lighting conditions. The park’s roadways, such as the scenic drive to Flamingo, offer easy access to prime photography locations, where wading birds, alligators, as well as pine & bald cypress trees can be spotted. Golden hour enhances the beauty of the Everglades, casting warm light over mirror-like water reflections and dramatic cloud formations.

The map below shows the key spots we photographed the beauty of the park.

#1 – Anhinga Trail (Royal Palm Visitor Center)

Anhinga Trail at the Royal Palm Visitor Center is a paradise for bird photographers, offering close-up opportunities to capture cormorants, herons, gallinules, and vultures in their natural wetland habitat. The short boardwalk trail provides unobstructed views of birds fishing, drying their wings, or interacting, often at close range and in beautiful morning or evening light. With its abundant wildlife and reflective waters, Anhinga Trail is one of the best spots in the park for capturing dynamic bird behavior and stunning compositions. In addition to the birds, it is a good spot to photograph alligators.

#2 Long Pine Key

Long Pine Key offers landscape photographers a refreshing contrast to the park’s wetlands, with towering slash pines, reeds, and a tranquil lake. Soft morning and evening light filtering through the pines creates dramatic compositions, while still waters provide stunning reflections. It is an excellent spot to photograph at sunrise.

#3 Pine Glades Lake

Like Long Pine Key, Pine Glades Lake is surrounded by slash pines and reeds, making it a fantastic spot for early morning photography. When we visited, a mist hung over the still water, creating an ethereal atmosphere, while a large alligator glided slowly toward us, adding to the scene.

#4 Pa-Hay-Okee

Pa-Hay-Okee Trail offers photographers a breathtaking panoramic view of the “River of Grass”, with its vast sawgrass marshes stretching to the horizon. The short boardwalk leads to an elevated observation platform, providing a perfect vantage point for capturing expansive landscapes and dramatic cloudscapes.

#5 Mahogany Hammack Road Pine Trees & Sawgrass

Between the Park Main Rd and Mahogany Hammock Trailhead is a spot to photograph the slash pine trees at a distance. The view is terrific when there are wispy clouds.

#6 Slash Pine Trees @ Sunset

Our initial plan was to shoot the sunset at Long Pine Key, but upon arrival, we realized it was better suited for sunrise. With no backup plan, we drove along the park road toward Flamingo, searching for a new spot. Eventually, we stopped near a stand of slash pine trees and captured the sunset there.

#7 Flamingo Marina

Flamingo, located at the southernmost point of Everglades National Park, offers stunning coastal landscapes, diverse birdlife, and frequent manatee and crocodile sightings. As we explored the marina, we spotted two crocodiles in the water. Suddenly, my friend’s cap blew off and landed in the water, and one of the crocodiles slowly swam toward it, grabbed it, and returned to its original spot with the cap in its mouth.

#8 Osprey Nest near Flamingo Amphitheater

South of the marina stands the Flamingo Amphitheater. Near the parking area by the public restroom, an osprey nest sits high above. A male osprey, gripping a fish in its talons, was perched on a nearby tree, while a red-shouldered hawk rested on another tree close by.

#9 Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area

On our way back to Naples, we stopped at the Clyde Butcher’s gallery located along the Tamami Trail within the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area. The gallery showcases his stunning black-and-white landscape photography of the Everglades, offering visitors a glimpse into the region’s wild beauty through his large-format prints. It is definitely worth a visit. Across from the gallery, along the roadside, a marsh was teeming with egrets, anhinga, and alligators, all gathered in the shallow waters.