The Everglades National Park can be enjoyed in two ways – on foot or on your kayak. Kayaking brings you very up close to nature and is certainly something we can highly recommend. Surrounding yourself with mangrove trees, birds, plants, the calm waters, the rustling of the grass that hit your kayak, and even the alligators that lounge about, is a truly immersive experience that you can only get when you kayak along the waters of the Everglades National Park. You can experience most of these when taking the Nine Mile Pond Trail. This is one of the 6 paddling trails you can choose from when in the park and it’s mighty awesome.
The Nine Mile Pond Trail stretches for five miles and would take you some four to five hours to complete, depending on your skill and how much savoring you want to do. It will take you on this very peaceful drift, with very calm waters and leaves and bushes that bump on you every now and then (because the tunnels are tight) just to give you a sense as to how close to nature you really are. Some corners are so tight, big kayaks won’t even fit in. In this trail, you’d be engulfed by the lush mangrove forests, spikes from the marsh and mini islands.
It’s easy to lose your way especially for beginners but fortunately, there are lots of signage along the way that should point you to the directions you’re supposed to be heading. First timers will pretty much have a rough time navigating without those signs to guide them. However, if you don’t mind getting lost for a bit, you should find that the birds are quite delighted to be in the trail, playing around, going about their merry way. While finding your way back, you may notice some crocs you see lying around that have an opinion about the natural environment. And you can tell it’s a positive one seeing how relaxed they are on the river banks.
One must keep in mind that there are no dry tracks along the trail that’s why if you brought food with you, you will have to eat it while on the boat and this also means that you must do your toilet needs before or after the trail since there’s no landing spot anywhere on this five-mile trail. Speaking of dry, the rivers dry up during late February and March, making the trail impassable during that period of time. Once you’re all set you should have a smooth paddling ride through this amazing trail.
For other kayaking trails around Southwest Florida, check out our website and go to the Articles section. For the latest events and the hippest places in town, go to the Tourist Guide section. However, if you’re in a hurry, you may want to listen to our podcast, the Divine Naples Daily, where Rich and Matt tell you all the most pleasant news around the Paradise Coast for just fifteen minutes daily. But, if you’re in downtown Naples, you’re more than welcome to visit us in our visitor center where we can treat you with a personal concierge and a nice cup of espresso.
