Christmas in Big Cypress Preserve

We are camped in a quiet Park Service campground in the middle of Big Cypress Preserve. If you look at a map of Florida, we are in the big empty area between Miami and Naples. After being in a busy metro area for the last few weeks, we decided to cancel our reservations at Collier-Seminole State Park and enjoy the solitude of the swamp. This is one of the few places we have found in South Florida where you can really get away from crowds of people. Being forty miles from the closest grocery store has made us feel like we are in the west. We are continuing to love winter Florida weather. We had a few cold days, low 60’s. Otherwise, it’s been 70’s and 80’s for the last several weeks.

Our campsite is located between a lake full of alligators and an expanse of sawgrass prairie dotted with cypress domes. The sunsets are outrageous, the birding spectacular, but the silence is the selling point. There are no hookups here, that tends to keep the RV’ers away. Our solar is coming in handy. There are a few camphosts and one other trailer scattered around the lake. None of them within a quarter mile of our site. Not quite the same as being miles from anyone like we can be out west, but for Florida….it’s fabulous. I think we will spend two weeks here before heading south into the Everglades.

We don’t have any special plans for Christmas. We have been out birding early the last two days. There are several kayak routes nearby and some biking choices. There is way more to do than we will be able to get to in two weeks. Just the way we like it.