Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center is located on State Road 29 in Everglades City, Florida and is one of the entrances to the Everglades National Park. It takes approximately one and 45 minutes to drive here from Miami. The visitor center is open daily from 9am to 4.30 pm between mid April and November and 8am to 4.30pm for the rest of the year.

This visitor center serves as a gateway for visitors wishing to explore the Ten Thousand Islands, which have an abundance of mangroves and large expanses of waterways from Flamingo to Florida Bay. From here visitors can arrange boat tours along the waterways as well as hire canoes. More can be learned about the area through educational displays, orientation films and informational brochures all available at this center.

Visitors wishing to stay in the park will find campgrounds nearby and can obtain back country permits from the visitor center no earlier than the day before their stay. None of the back country sites are accessible by car and can mostly only be reached by canoe, kayak or motorboat. There are other lodgings nearby including the Captain's Table Hotel as well as a few restaurants within a couple of miles of the visitor center.