Shark Valley running tours, bike rentals as Everglades National Park expands access

Adriana Brasileiro
·2 min read

Visitors to Everglades National Park can once again rent bikes or take an open tram to look for wading birds like the pink Roseate Spoonbills or spot alligators as tours around the Shark Valley Visitor Center slowly increase access to the public.

The Shark Valley visitor area reopened on June 1 as the park began to gradually allow the public to access recreational activities and campgrounds after being closed for more than two months to comply with local stay-at-home orders and other guidelines to slow transmission of COVID-19.

Shark Valley was the last visitor area to reopen, and tours have been operating at reduced capacity to ensure visitors maintain social distancing. The number of bikes for rent has also been restricted and the visitor center remains closed except for the bathrooms.

Everglades National Park closed to the public on March 20 after Miami-Dade County ordered sweeping closures of public parks and beaches as part of an effort to ensure social distancing and slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt is scheduled to visit the park on Saturday to mark the reopening of the popular Shark Valley tram tours, which take visitors on a two-hour circuit through the Everglades. Bernhardt’s visit is part of an effort to increase visitor access across public lands, the Department of the Interior said in a statement. He will also visit the marina at Flamingo visitor area and Big Cypress National Preserve, and watch a prescribed burn in the Everglades.

Boat tours of Florida Bay leaving from Flamingo and the Ten Thousand Island cruise on the Gulf Coast visitor area have also been allowed to resume earlier this month, but at reduced capacity.

Visitor centers and most camping and lodging options remain closed.

As the county began reopening some recreational areas last month, Everglades National Park started to allow visitors to access the park through its Homestead entrance.

In mid-May, the Anhinga Trail and the Long Pine Key picnic areas and trails, as well as the Guy Bradley Trail and day-use area at Flamingo, reopened. Park fees were waived for a few weeks but are now being charged normally.