The Watson Place

The Watson Place is a remote homestead clearing and backcountry ground campsite at Chatham Bend in Everglades National Park. It makes sense as a landing during a much longer water trip, not as a drive-up attraction. The 99-mile Wilderness Waterway connects Everglades City and Flamingo; most paddlers allow at least eight days, and the park recommends it for experienced paddlers. Tides, wind, and shallow mangrove creeks make navigation part of the trip, so bring charts and a compass instead of relying on phone service.

At the turn of the 20th century, Ed Watson lived here in a two-story house, growing vegetables and refining sugarcane. The house is gone, but a cement cistern, sugarcane syrup cauldron, and farm machinery remain. This is a small clearing with traces of a working outpost, not a restored village or an exhibit hall. The machinery and cauldron are the distinctive details to look for and photograph; a wide mangrove view could be anywhere.

Watson Place is a ground campsite rather than an over-water chickee. It has picnic tables and a listed toilet, but no food service is listed, and the coastal wilderness has no fresh water. Bring all drinking and cooking water, at least a gallon per person per day. The campsite's published limit is 20 people in five parties and two nights. Overnight stays need a wilderness permit; ground sites don't allow campfires, and pets aren't permitted ashore in the backcountry. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums can make a long stop uncomfortable, so treat this as a backcountry camp, not a convenient picnic.