In a vast, wild, out-of-the-way state park in the Everglades, a boardwalk has reopened that takes visitors through one of the most exquisite ancient cypress forests.
The Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is now 1.15 miles long, making it an out-and-back stroll of 2.3 miles. Most of the trail is on an elevated wooden boardwalk. (There are some hard-packed gravel/sand connector pathways.)
The boardwalk’s nearest neighbor is tiny Everglades City, 10 miles away. Naples is 25 miles northwest. If you’re visiting this corner of Florida, it’s worth taking the time to take this easy hike.
For years, the original Big Cypress Bend was a popular boardwalk, full of wildlife, orchids, strangler figs and lush jungle flora. But then Hurricane Ian devastated it in September 2022.
Finally, after 1,247 days, the “original” portion of the boardwalk was rebuilt and reopened in late November 2025. A new entrance with parking, restrooms and a beautiful breezy interpretive pavilion was constructed and opened in January 2024.
This parking area is the starting point for the new boardwalk, which now continues and connects to the route of the old boardwalk. This path with a platform overlooks a scenic pond, where you are likely to see alligators, birds and more.
Designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service, the original Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk was built in the 1960s by philanthropist Lester Norris, who owned the land before the Fakahatchee became a preserve.
The boardwalk takes visitors back in time to a tiny slice of ancient cypress forest. It was the rare spot that was spared from logging, thanks to Lester Norris.
The first half of the trail is sunny and wraps around a lake. At a Miccosukee community, the path takes a sharp right turn and where the old boardwalk started, the new one continues on the same route. Those who walked it in the past will remember the picturesque strangler figs along the boardwalk.
There is only one entrance to the boardwalk, at the parking area at 27020 Tamiami Trail E, Naples, 34114. The Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk is open daily from 8 a.m. until sunset. Depending on the time of day, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and/or deer flies may be present.
Beyond the boardwalk
Fakahatchee Preserve is huge — more than 80,000 acres stretching from Alligator Alley to the Tamiami Trail. It is truly wild, one of the rare places where visitors occasionally see Florida panthers and black bear.
The preserve has miles and miles of hiking, including dry, easy-to-walk trails through a vast and beautiful cypress forest filled with air plants and wild orchids.
While Fakahatchee Strand is enormous, there is essentially one road that goes into the park, Janes Scenic Drive. It’s a dirt road through a beautiful cypress swamp and it’s closed to vehicles after the first six miles. It continues for five more miles for hikers and fat-tire bikes.
At several points along this road, hiking trails head into the woods.
That six-mile-road takes almost 30 minutes to drive, primarily because of potholes. But going slow is good because plenty of wildlife is viewed from the road.
The preserves’ former logging roads create a network of good hiking trails. We hiked on East Main Trail, which starts where cars reach the end of the drivable section of Jane’s Scenic Drive.
East Main Trail is high and dry as it passes through the cypress swamp. While the trees are not the ancient giants of the past, the cypress swamp is luxuriant with ferns, orchids, airplants and knobby cypress knees.
The Fakahatchee is the spot enthusiasts go to see wild orchids. (It was the scene of Susan Orleans best-selling book “The Orchid Thief,” which became the Meryl Streep movie “Adapation.”)
This forest is also the site of a large number of stately native royal palm trees. There are many along the East Main Trail.
A perfect hike is an easy two-mile stroll down East Main Trail to a private cabin that makes a great turn-around destination. The rustic building of old wood and corrugated metal has a sign at the front door that jokingly calls it the Fakahatchee Hilton.
It’s a good place to linger. It’s located on a beautiful pond; a boardwalk connects the cabin to the lake, where we had our picnic on the dock overlooking a half dozen alligators lazily floating and sunning while in the trees several anhingas dried their wings.
It was absolutely silent, except for loud complaints from a big crow atop a nearby cypress.
There is also a picnic table and an outhouse at this location. The trail continues for several miles.
The park’s website says the two most popular trails are the East Main, which we hiked, and the West Main trail, which passes through two miles of strand swamp before opening up into a beautiful marle prairie.
You can also explore this vast park in kayak or canoe. It’s easy to miss the park’s East River. The kayak and canoe launch is tucked away down an unmarked dirt road off US 41/Tamiami Trail and most traffic whizzes by. For more about the kayak trail, visit Fakahatchee Strand Preserve on FloridaRambler.com.
While you’re in this end-of-the-road corner of Florida, stop and have fresh seafood or stone crabs in the fishing village of Everglades City. This is also the location of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center in Everglades National Park. This is a good place to rent kayaks or take a guided boat tour out into the Ten Thousand Islands. Here’s more about the Everglades Gulf Coast area.
If you go
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
137 Coastline Drive, Copeland FL 34137
239-695-4593
Admission is $3.
Bonnie Gross gives tips on visiting the natural and authentic Florida at FloridaRambler.com. You can sign up for their newsletter here.
