Ariel W.

Review of Arthur R. Marshall Foundation

I love to visit the Everglades but I don't often h...

I love to visit the Everglades but I don't often have the time to travel all the way down to Homestead. Fortunately for me the Loxahatchee Refuge is located a mere thirty minutes from where I live. It's located directly off of 441, about 20 minutes north of Glades Road directly behind Bedner farms which is a great place to grab a snack or drink before you go into the park.

Once you enter there a park service booth to the right. Admission is $5 but usually no one is present to collect the admission. A soon as you pass the booth turn to the right and there you will find the nature visitor center. There is some nice displays and a cute little movie where you sit in a fake air boat and the movie makes you feel like you are zipping through the Everglades. You will also find park rangers and volunteers here to answer any questions you have. The visitor center closes at 4 pm. Right behind the nature center are the bathrooms and the entrance to the Cypress trail which goes through the cypress swamp. The trail is a quick little ten minute walk on an elevated boardwalk. Very pretty. The trail winds around back to the start and when the nature center is open there are some rocking chairs on the back patio to enjoy.

Once you finish the nature center you hop back into the car and drive up to the next parking lot on the left. If it is July it is worth looking into the water on your left side. It's a popular place for alligators to nest and I have seen mom's and babies many times. You just want to give them a wide berth. Once you park you will see a trail to your left that makes a nice circle around the wet prairie habitat ending back at the parking lot. It's an easy twenty minute walk but there is no shade so I like it best in the winter. As you walk you will see many birds. Some that I see often are Anhingas, Great Blue Herons, and Great Egrets. I have also seen alligators and turtles swimming along. There is a small observation platform which gives a nice view of the wet prairie.

A short drive up the road leads to another parking lot on the left where there a covered pavilion that abuts the slough. If you peer over the railing there is usually an alligator or two lounging around. This area provides a beautiful view of the wet prairie. The last time I was there I saw a family feeding the alligators grapes. This was despite a large sign that says do not feed the alligators. The sign also showed a dead alligator that the park rangers had to kill because it had become a nuisance gator from people feeding it. Let's leave the wildlife wild folks.

At the very back of the refuge is the slough habitat. A lot of people bring their boats back here and it's a popular place to fish. There is place here that rents canoes and kayak and you can take the five mile canoe trail that runs through here. I did it once and took several hours. There was no shade which can be brutal. They lily pads also make it difficult to get through the water. The wildlife however was amazing and it made it worthwhile. I saw alligators swimming right next to my canoe as well as many kinds of birds. The canoe place also offers moonlight canoe trips which I have always wanted to take.

In February of every years the friends of Arthur R Marshall Refuge have an Everglades Day. A ton of people come so you have to park offsite and ride a bus. The event has free canoeing, guided nature walks, arts and crafts for the kids, vendors, and food trucks just to name a few things. Last year my friends bought some very nice binoculars which I am seriously thinking of purchasing this year. Although crowded it is a really fun day.

The Everglades is a very important part of the Florida ecosystem. Some changes are being proposed that may threaten the future of the refuge. I wrote this review because I hope more people will come visit and love it as much as I do. If you love it like me, then you will be invested in protecting it too.