Entrance station · Everglades National Park
Passes, maps, and permits at the start of the drive.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Everglades Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Everglades National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Everglades audio tourRecorded for this place
Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center: Advice and a Lakeside Break“Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center is coming up, the main orientation stop on the Homestead side.”
Plays as you drive up to Homestead Entrance Station in the Parkwolf Everglades Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Homestead Entrance Station is the vehicle fee gate on Main Park Road, about 500 meters (a third of a mile) past Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center. It is a practical stop, not another attraction: show your pass or buy one here before driving farther into the park.
Staff sell entrance passes and issue permits, and you can pick up maps and the park newspaper; there is also an information kiosk. If you still need any of those, handle it here before setting out along Main Park Road.
Busy winter weekends can bring lines at the Homestead gate. If you can, go on a weekday or arrive before 10 a.m. Once you are through, allow plenty of time for Main Park Road, where narrow shoulders and pull-offs make this a drive to take patiently.
Wildlife
15 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
1,429 sightingsWest Indian ManateeMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
4,397 sightingsAlligatorMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
1,672 sightingsCrocodileMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
42 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
15 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Everglades. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyAnhinga Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 1.5 mi awayA short boardwalk where alligators and waterbirds steal the show.
EasyGumbo Limbo Trail0.4 mi · 24 min · 1.5 mi awayA shady paved loop over limestone solution holes.
ModerateLong Pine Key Nature Trail7 mi · 3 hr · 4.1 mi awayA rocky seven-mile route through pine rockland to Pine Glades Lake.
EasyThree-in-One Trail0.6 mi · 30 min · 4.3 mi awayThree habitats and a lakeshore return in one easy loop
Visitor center · 0.4 mi awayErnest F. Coe Visitor CenterGet a ranger’s help before you commit to the park’s long drives.
Sight · 0.6 mi awayEverglades National Park Main Entrance SignA stone welcome sign marks mile zero of the drive south.
Visitor center · 1.5 mi awayRoyal Palm Information Station and BookstoreAn easy wetland boardwalk and a shady hammock walk start here.
Campground · 4.2 mi awayLong Pine Key CampgroundA seasonal base among tall pines with hot showers.
Picnic area · 4.3 mi awayLong Pine Key Picnic AreaA pine rockland picnic stop with lakeside tables and a short trail.Parkwolf’s Everglades ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
