☰Everglades National Park

The Everglades begin less than an hour from downtown Miami — 1.5 million acres of sawgrass prairies, mangrove forests, and slow-moving water that shelter alligators, manatees, roseate spoonbills, and the occasional Florida panther. Shark Valley, the closest entry point from the city, has a 15-mile loop trail (bikeable or by tram) that ends at an observation tower overlooking an alligator-filled waterway. The Ernest Coe Visitor Center near Homestead is the main southern entrance, leading to Anhinga Trail — one of the best short wildlife walks in North America, where alligators sun themselves within arm's reach of the boardwalk.