
Christopher Stokes with alligator presentation. PHOTO BY PATRICIA HUFF/COASTAL BREEZE NEWS
Patricia Huff
Many times visitors to Everglades City have asked us where they can walk out in the Everglades, and there are many great places along the Tamiami Trail. If they are headed west to Naples, I suggest the Fakahatchee Boardwalk at Big Cypress Bend and the 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge; and if they’re driving east to Miami, I recommend Kirby Storter Boardwalk in the Big Cypress National Preserve. There are also many trails (or spurs) off Janes Scenic Drive if they are traveling north on SR29.
But now we have our own Everglades City Boardwalk for those hanging around town or who don’t have the time to drive outside of the area. Jungle Erv (Ervin Stokes), whose ancestors were the pioneering families of Fakahatchee Island (the Daniels and

Entrance to the Boardwalk.
The Boardwalk also goes along the Barron River in an area designated a manatee sanctuary. Ervin says his future plans will include an extended Florida Wildlife Show with alligator wrestling and more wildlife. For now it’s a peaceful walk in the mangroves.

Totem Pole along boardwalk.
If you have scheduled an Airboat Ride with Jungle Erv’s ($39.99), there is no entrance fee for the Boardwalk and Alligator Show. If you’d like to take a walk along the Boardwalk and learn about the history, the wildlife and the alligators, there is a $4.99 entrance fee for adults and $3.99 for children. Local full-time residents of Everglades City area are provided free admission; it’s a mangrove park in our own backyard. For more information, call 289-695-2800.
Patricia Huff has lived in Everglades City for the past 17 years and is the Publisher of the local newspaper The Mullet Rapper.
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