Cypress Swamp Trail

The Cypress Swamp Trail boardwalk penetrates one of Florida's finest examples of virgin bald cypress swamp—trees that were never logged because the terrain was too wet and remote for early 20th-century operations. The boardwalk carries visitors directly over the swamp's dark, tannin-stained water, threading between buttressed cypress trunks that rise 80 to 100 feet overhead. Cypress knees protrude from the waterline in dense clusters, and at high water the entire swamp floor floods to several feet in depth.

The swamp is a critical rookery for wading birds. Great blue herons, great egrets, tricolored herons, and little blue herons nest colonially in the upper cypress canopy, and the cacophony and odor of an active rookery in spring is unforgettable. Anhinga and double-crested cormorants share the rookery trees. American alligators are common beneath the boardwalk, and Florida softshell turtles bask on emergent logs. The rare swallow-tailed kite has been documented nesting in the tallest cypress here. The Civilian Conservation Corps-era boardwalk was restored in 2019 and now provides safe passage even during the wet season when the swamp floods to its maximum depth.