Everglades National Park covers 1,542,526 acres of land and water in South Florida, or about 64,238 hectares and 2,410 square miles. Its low, wet landscape combines freshwater marsh, mangrove forest, coastal areas, Florida Bay, and Gulf waters. These Everglades National Park statistics also show the scale of its wildlife, conservation responsibilities, roads, trails, campsites, and visitor facilities.
Everglades National Park statistics at a glance
- Total area: 1,542,526 acres, 64,238 hectares, or 2,410 square miles.
- Designated wilderness: 1,296,500 acres, or 524,686 hectares.
- Potential wilderness: 81,900 acres, or 33,144 hectares.
- Wilderness share: Designated and potential wilderness together account for 86% of the park’s total area.
- Coastline: 137 miles.
- Elevation: From 0 to 8 feet, with an average elevation of 6 feet.
- Annual rainfall: 60 inches on average.
- Main entrances: Three, in Homestead, Miami, and Everglades City.
The National Park Service source for the park’s basic statistics identifies the park as spanning more than 1.5 million acres across South Florida. The park also includes the southern terminus of Florida’s wetland complex known as the Everglades. Together, the area and wilderness figures describe a landscape where most of the park is managed as a large, connected natural system rather than as developed visitor space.
Park size, wilderness, and landscape types
The park’s 1,542,526 acres include several distinct environments. Florida Bay and the Gulf account for 484,200 acres. Sawgrass and freshwater marsh cover 572,200 acres, while mangrove forest covers 230,100 acres. Coastal areas add another 220,000 acres. These figures are reported in the National Park Service’s Everglades Park Statistics Resources & Facilities information.
The habitat figures should be read as categories describing the park’s major environments. They are not a reason to add every category together as a new park-area total. The overall park statistic already includes land and water, while the habitat figures describe selected parts of that broader geography.
The wilderness totals are also useful for understanding the park’s character. Designated wilderness covers 1,296,500 acres, and potential wilderness covers 81,900 acres. In hectares, those figures are 524,686 and 33,144, respectively. The National Park Service reports that designated wilderness plus potential wilderness equals 86% of the total park area. That proportion helps explain why boat-accessible campsites, canoe routes, and remote coastal travel are important parts of the park experience.
Climate, elevation, and seasonal conditions
Everglades National Park is exceptionally low-lying. Elevation ranges from 0 to 8 feet, and the average elevation is 6 feet. The National Park Service reports average annual rainfall of 60 inches. The rainy season runs from May through September, a period that can shape travel conditions, water levels, insects, and access across the park.
The park’s reported seasonal temperatures are:
| Season | Average high | Average low |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | 77°F | 53°F |
| Summer | 87°F | 67°F |
These are average seasonal temperatures, not guarantees for a particular day or location. The same National Park Service statistics identify hurricane season as running from May 1 through November 15. That period overlaps the rainy season from May through September, so the dates are relevant when planning time near the park’s exposed coast, bay, and Gulf waters.
Wildlife and biodiversity numbers
The National Park Service Resources & Facilities summary identifies more than 400 bird species, 25 mammal species, and 60 amphibian and reptile species in the park. It also reports 125 fish species from 45 families. The separate NPS Birds source reports that more than 360 different bird species have been sighted, while the NPS Reptiles source says more than 50 distinct kinds of reptiles inhabit the park.
The different bird figures describe different measures. The resources summary says more than 400 bird species have been identified in the park, while the bird-specific source reports more than 360 species sighted. Both figures are retained because they come from distinct National Park Service source labels and are not interchangeable counts.
Plant diversity is similarly broad. The Resources & Facilities summary reports more than 120 tree species, more than 1,000 seed-bearing plant species, and more than 24 orchid species among the park’s epiphytic plants. The NPS Plants source reports 39 native orchid species and about 750 other native seed-bearing plant species. It also identifies 66 native species considered critically imperiled in south Florida.
The plant statistics use several scopes. The larger summary counts describe species in broad park resources information, while the plant-specific figures focus on native plants and particular listing categories. Keeping those descriptions separate avoids treating them as duplicate totals or combining unlike classifications.
Endangered, threatened, and imperiled species
The National Park Service source titled NPS Threatened and Endangered Species reports 36 native Florida species in the park that are federally listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Its breakdown is:
- 8 plants
- 7 invertebrates
- 2 fish
- 8 reptiles
- 10 birds
- 4 mammals
The category figures are a breakdown of the reported 36 federally listed species, and they show that the list spans plants, animals, and several types of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. The listing status is specifically federal and tied to native Florida species in the park.
The NPS Plants source gives a separate state-level picture for plants. It reports 164 plant species listed by the State of Florida: 47 threatened, 113 endangered, and 4 commercially exploited. These categories should not be read as a second federal total. They represent the state’s plant-listing information and use their own classification system.
The park’s Resources & Facilities summary lists 13 endangered species in its resources summary. Because this is a separate summary statistic from the 36 federally listed native Florida species and the 164 state-listed plants, the figures are presented as separate source-reported measures rather than merged into one count.
Invasive vegetation and conservation pressure
The National Park Service NPS Invasive Plants source names five invasive plants in the park: Australian pine, old world climbing fern, melaleuca, Brazilian pepper, and seaside mahoe. The NPS Exotic Vegetation Management Program estimates that exotic plants occur on approximately 200,000 to 300,000 acres of the park.
The 200,000-to-300,000-acre figure is an estimate, so it should be understood as a range rather than a precise measured acreage. It also refers to the estimated occurrence of exotic plants, not to five species occupying exactly five separate areas. The named list and the acreage estimate therefore answer different questions: one identifies examples of invasive plants, and the other describes the approximate geographic extent of exotic vegetation.
These numbers matter in a park where habitat types cover very large areas and where conservation work must account for freshwater marsh, mangroves, coastal environments, and upland or developed corridors. The statistics show both the breadth of native biodiversity and the scale of the management challenge.
Roads, trails, and water-based recreation
Everglades National Park has 129 miles of surfaced roads and 156 miles of trails, including canoe trails. Of the trail total, 5 miles are surfaced trails and 1 mile consists of elevated boardwalk trails. The boardwalk figure highlights how a low, wet landscape can require raised routes for visitors to experience the environment while staying on a defined path.
The park has five biking trails. The Shark Valley Tram Road biking route is 14 miles round trip. For paddlers, the Ten Thousand Islands paddling trail is 7.3 to 11 miles long, depending on the route selected. The range is route-dependent, so it should not be treated as one fixed trail distance.
The National Park Service also reports 48 designated backcountry campsites accessible by boat. That number fits the park’s geography: much of the landscape is shaped by water, and the park’s facilities include both conventional road access and routes designed for paddling or boat travel.
Campgrounds, buildings, and visitor services
The park has three campgrounds totaling 423 sites. In addition to those campground sites, it has 48 designated backcountry campsites accessible by boat. These are separate facility figures: the first describes campground capacity, while the second describes designated remote sites.
Everglades National Park has 208 buildings, including five visitor centers. It also has two environmental education camps, two fee collection stations, and seven authorized concessioners. The facility count provides a compact measure of the developed support system serving a park that is otherwise dominated by wilderness, open water, marsh, and coastal habitat.
The park’s three main entrances are in Homestead, Miami, and Everglades City, according to the National Park Service Operating Hours & Seasons source. Those entrance locations correspond to the park’s broad South Florida footprint and help distinguish the park from a single-site attraction with one central access point.
History and international designations
Everglades National Park was authorized on May 10, 1934, and established on December 6, 1947. The National Park Service reports that it became an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and a World Heritage Site in 1979. It was designated a Wetland of International Importance on June 4, 1987.
The dates describe different milestones rather than repeated establishment dates. Authorization came first, followed by establishment, then international designations recognizing the park’s ecological significance. The 1979 World Heritage Site year is retained without adding a month or day because the supplied National Park Service statistic provides only the year.
Taken together, the statistics describe a park with 2,410 square miles of land and water, an average elevation of 6 feet, extensive wilderness, hundreds of wildlife species, more than 1,000 reported seed-bearing plant species in its broad resources summary, and a visitor network that includes roads, trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, and boat-accessible backcountry sites. The source-reported measures differ in scope, so each number is best understood alongside its geography, category, or measurement description.