Go Wild: Free Admission to National Parks April 21-29

Gator encounter at Anhinga Trail

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See alligators up close, snorkel off the Miami coast and touch a 300-year-old piece of history. These are just a few of the things you can experience during the National Park Service's National Park Week, during which admission fees are waived at all national parks (including preserves, monuments, seashores and all other nationally protected lands and structures), which runs April 21-29.

In Florida, this means that entrance into Everglades National Park — the 3rd largest in the continental United States — is free of charge. Watch alligators and countless bird species amass along Anhinga Trail, where you can walk directly above the water as the massive reptiles float underfoot; cycle Shark Valley for a sweeping view of sawgrass prairie from the 65-foot observation tower and sleep under a star-filled sky at the southern tip of the peninsula in Flamingo, the only area in the world where gators and crocodiles co-exist (overnight camping fees still apply).

Other National Park Service highlights in the Sunshine State are the Castillo de San Marco, the famous St. Augustine fort built between 1672-1695; the pristine reefs of Key Biscayne National Park, just minutes from Downtown Miami and Big Cypress National Preserve in the Western Everglades, your best bet to catch a glimpse of the elusive Florida Panther.

Tags: adventure | Everglades | outdoors