Skip to content
Nanci Gilbert, PA logo

Blog · Outdoor Life

The Everglades From Homestead: A Family Trip Planner

The park's Homestead entrance is a short drive from town, and the Anhinga Trail makes wildlife viewing easy for all ages. Here is the plan, the fees, and the timing.

By Nanci Gilbert, PA September 28, 2026
Header image for "The Everglades From Homestead: A Family Trip Planner"

Everglades National Park is closer than most South Florida families realize. The main Homestead entrance sits on State Road 9336, about ten miles southwest of town, a drive of roughly fifteen to twenty minutes. It is one of the few national parks where you can be at a trailhead before the morning gets hot, and where children can see alligators and wading birds from a flat, stroller-friendly boardwalk.

Fees and the plan

Entry is a seven-day pass: $35 per private vehicle, $30 per motorcycle, and $20 per person arriving on foot or by bike, with an annual Everglades pass at $70 and America the Beautiful passes accepted. Arrive early, especially in the drier months from December through March, to find parking and to catch wildlife at its most active. Bring water, insect repellent, and sun protection; the visitor centers are the last comfortable stops before the trails.

The Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm

About four miles past the main gate, the Royal Palm area holds the park's easiest family walk. The Anhinga Trail is a self-guided 0.8-mile round-trip boardwalk over sawgrass marsh where alligators, anhingas, herons, and turtles appear year-round, often within a few feet of the rail. It is wheelchair accessible, so it works for every generation at once. On a fall morning it is one of the best wildlife experiences in South Florida.

Shark Valley is a separate trip

The park's entrances do not connect by road, and Shark Valley is the one families plan as its own day. It sits off the Tamiami Trail to the west and offers a flat 15-mile paved loop through the River of Grass. The ranger-narrated tram runs about two hours, with adult tickets around $34, seniors 62 and older around $26, and children 3 to 12 around $18; bicycle rentals run about $27 a day. Reservations are recommended and required in the December-to-March peak season.

Make it a full South Dade day

Because the Homestead entrance is so close, families often pair the park with the rest of the day: fruit stands on Speedway Boulevard, lunch in downtown Homestead, or an afternoon at one of the county parks on the way home. The park asks little of you, a morning and an entrance fee, and it repays with the kind of day children retell at dinner.

A guide who knows the road

Families considering Homestead and the Redland often weigh proximity to these open spaces as part of the move. Nanci knows the routes, the timing, and the neighborhoods that put the park within a short drive. When you tour homes with her, ask about the morning commute to the trails; it is part of how she reads a property.

Nanci Gilbert, PA is a South Florida realtor who guides growing families, sellers, and buyers across Miami-Dade and Broward. Questions about this topic? She answers every message within one business day.