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Private Guided Swamp Walk Eco-Tour

Quick Details

  • Duration: 2 hours (Includes preparation and clean-up)
  • Booking Minimum: Two-person minimum
  • Ages: All ages (some seasonal restrictions may apply due to water depths.)
  • Current Swamp Water Depth: 2 - 4 feet.
  • Most Popular!

A Freshwater Wetland Like No Other in the World!

Whether you’re a photographer or an inquisitive explorer, you will be led by foot, at a leisure pace by our knowledgeable and experienced guide. Your tour is a private encounter with the Real Florida, that takes you into the heart of a swamp and through the surrounding habitats on Clyde and Niki Butcher’s Big Cypress property.

The swamp is a perpetually changing environment that seasonally floods and dries down. It is home to a variety of threatened and endangered orchids, ferns, and bromeliads. Your walk through this pristine ecosystem will enrich your bond with nature and allow you to better understand the unique and sometimes feared inhabitants that call this area home.

What to Wear

  • Long sleeve shirt
  • Long pants
  • A hat
  • Old tennis shoes

What to Bring

  • Light rain gear
  • Bug spray
  • Sunblock
  • A water bottle
  • Lunch or snacks
  • A complete change of clothes (most likely you will get wet depending on the time of the year)

What You Might Expect During Different Seasons

  • FALL (October – November) With the faint color accents of Fall and a thinning canopy, our Autumn swamp is still a lush leafy encounter with The Everglades. Water level: 18″ – 48″.
  • WINTER (December – February) the Cypress Needles have mostly fallen leaving a bare and bright canopy.  While the swamp has lost some of its vibrant greens, one can see more deeply through the trees.  Instead of clear flowing swamp waters, the swamp floor may be bare and/or muddy.  The beautiful buttressing tree bases and the mosaic pattern of limestone may be visible as water levels reduce.   Water levels  fluctuate between 0″ – 40″.
  • SPRING (March – June) The waters levels are much reduced or absent all together. The swamp surface is usually muddy or even dry in some areas.  Spring in the swamp is the time for the numerous shades of new green growth to emerge.  Water levels 0″- 40″.
  • SUMMER (July – September) You will experience lush, wet, and refreshing foliage as Cypress, Pond Apple and Pop Ash trees are in full leaf. Water levels 0″- 48″.

Location

Tours take place behind Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery, located along the scenic Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41), 47 miles east of Naples and 36 miles west of Miami at Mile Marker 54.5, about half a mile east of the Big Cypress National Preserve Oasis Visitor Center.

Tours are Customizable (Private tours are adjusted to your physical limitations):

Our guides will limit your tour terrain to strictly upland (dry ground) if you are wheelchair bound or have other mobility limitations.  Your swamp walk can also be adjusted to combine upland (dry surface) and swamp (wetland), for a less strenuous experience, perfect for low endurance individuals.  Traditionally we have kept our tours to deep water habitat surface, however, in an attempt to include all levels of physical abilities, your tour can be customized to enable you and your group a chance to experience America’s Everglades Ecosystem.

Due to the presence of endangered plants along the trail and the narrow, windy nature of our path, we cannot accommodate boats or inflatable devices on our swamp walk trails.

The tour time you want is not available?

If you do not see availability on your selected day, please call us at 239-695-2428. Our tour times are flexible and there’s a great chance that we can accommodate your tour!