Corkscrew Swamp, Naples

What an absolute delight of a habitat! My hubby and I are both biologists, avid birders, and native plant nerds, and we had an amazing morning on the boardwalk. This habitat is endemic to our state and can't be found anywhere else!! We saw salt and pepper square stem wild flowers and salt marsh mallow in full bloom and don't even get me started on the scarlet hibiscus! Just gorgeous! This is a truly special place that should be preserved for our future. We love that they only allow so many people on the boardwalk because we were less likely to be disturbed when getting the awesome bird photographs that we came early for. If you love Florida native plants and ecosystems as well as our lovely native wildlife than this is the place for you. We will absolutely be back for more of real Florida.

Very nicely built and kept-up boardwalk. Nature is amazing in this part of FL, so you don't need much else. But don't go at noon in the summertime (like we did), it's just too hot, even though much of the boardwalk is in the shade. Go early in the morning. We took the shortcut and did the shorter round.

So disappointed to see admission skyrocket to $17. Corkscrew Swamp is a special place - I have fond memories of visiting and learning about the importance of swamps and wetlands. I'd happily pay a reasonable fee to support its conservation, but over $50 for a group of 3 is just too expensive. Sad to see nature and educational opportunities become exclusive when it's so important that everyone have access to this kind of experience.

I went here and six mile cypress slough both on Christmas day. I am from Michigan where we do have a few parks with trails that go past wetlands and even a few short stretches of boardwalk but not any boardwalks as extensive as these parks. This place cost $25 and required advance reservations. They let me in at 10 minutes after 11am even though my reservation was for 12pm. I saw no animals. This place has a longer network of boardwalks and places where you see patches lacking trees compared to six mile cypress slough which also had 2x as many people and no patches lacking trees. I actually liked six mile cypress slough better; this place closed the visitor center by 1pm so I couldn't use the mens room before leaving. I saw no animals here and multiple animals at six mile cypress slough; but this place had no traffic noise while six mile cypress slough was close enough to a road to hear the not-so-distant roar of traffic.

MUST SEE...Fantastic experience for our family incluing 4.5yo daughter. The landscape and ecosystem is stunning. First, kuddos to the center for providing a free stroller ensuring our daughter could make the 2.5mi loop without stopping. The boardwalk is flat, easy to maneuver and makes viewing animals/landscape easy. So peaceful and serene..wish we could come back for all the seasons. Easy to book online, folks working at the center are very nice and energetic to share their knowledge. If you are visiting Naples, don't miss this gem!