It is one of North America's unsung wild places - a beautiful, rugged, subtropical wilderness enjoyed by a relatively small number of tourists each year.

Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southernmost areas of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds.  Our tip is to base yourself in either Miami Beach or Naples for best access to the National Park.