wheretheroadtakesus

ISO hotel recommendations for Florida National Park Trip. We are thinking of using Homestead as our home base. Any recommendations on places you’ve stayed that you enjoyed? Cleanliness is top of our list over amenities. Would love any recommendations for places to visit and restaurants in the area. Thank you!

tom_mn

I am not a fan of Everglades NP, but feel compelled to say that Homestead is a dumpy, sketchy town, and that the whole area around the entry to the park is drab downer.

PrairieHikerI

Everglades City has even a worse reputation. Smuggling rum and then drugs for over a century. They probably are involved in human trafficking now. Your best bet might be staying in Naples and driving in from the west. Look at the map of the park. https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/maps.htm

PrairieHikerI

On second thought, iti might be better to stay in Coral Gables and drive one hour to the Royal Palms Visitors Center in the park. Most of the park is rather boring razor-share sawgrass savannah. It does have some mangroves, tropical hardwood hammocks (island forests), pine and cypress forests. The paved 15-mie Shark Valley Trail varies between sawgrass marsh and tropical hardwood hammocks. Maybe take a boat tour. Ask a park ranger how to see the cypress trees.

TheModoc

Funny, a few years ago we were looking to do the same trip but opted instead to do Miami, Key West and the Dry Tortugas NP.

sandragoodlife

Can't recommend a hotel, but we visited the Shark Valley area. Brought bicycles and biked the 15 mile loop. It was fantastic, seeing alligators and birds up close. You can rent bikes for $25.00 or just take the tram ride.