Everglades National Park is home to both alligators and crocodiles. Which is this? (A croc)/NPS
With long, cold, snowy months descending on the northern half of the country, it's not a bad time to cast your eyes to the south and national parks where you can find warm weather, sandy beaches, and plenty of sunshine.
Winter is the season to visit Everglades. Not only have you left cold, snowy weather far behind, but December into April is the driest time of year in the park. Bugs are relatively few compared to summer, and now the wildlife is congregating around water holes, making the birds and animals easy to find. Visit during these months and your odds of seeing alligators and crocodiles soar. So will your bird list, with sightings of Buffleheads, Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Roseate Terns, Tri-colored herons, Yellow-billed Cuckoos and more.
If this is your first visit, consider stops in Shark Valley and the Anhinga Trail for reliable wildlife sightings. If you're traveling with a kayak or canoe, park officials suggest you explore Snake Bight and Chokoloskee Bay at low tide to see scores of water birds in the mudflats. Pulling an RV or packing a tent? Head to either the Long Pine Key and Flamingo campgrounds ($30 per night for electrical hookups, $16 for tents). Reservations are only available for the Flamingo sites.
A paradise rich in beauty and deep in history lies within Virgin Islands National Park, which encompasses most of the island of St. John. Sugar-sand beaches run from palm trees down to turquoise waters, within which grow coral reefs swarming with fish. A week easily could be spent visiting the different beaches and bays ' Trunk, Cinnamon, Coral, Leinster, Saltpond, Lameshur ' and sampling their tropical fisheries. When you need a break from snorkeling or simply soaking up the tropical warmth, head inland to explore a dark chapter of 18th century slavery.
Virgin Islands National Park is rich in history...some quite dark/Kurt Repanshek
The Dutch had developed a thriving sugar industry, and used slaves to power their plantations. Ruins of several plantations remain, with the Catherineburg and Annaburg sites the most visited. A half-day adventure lies down the Reef Bay Trail, which descends almost 3 miles through a tropical forest of lime, mango, and tamarind trees, as well as leafy palm varieties, to the Caribbean Sea and ruins of the Reef Bay Sugar Mill. A short side trail leads to a cool pool of water and an intriguing series of petroglyphs long ago etched into a rock face.
One caveat: Winter is the high season, so expect to pay more for lodgings than you would for a summer visit.
OTHER OPTIONS:
Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia: Windswept and wave-pounded beaches, maritime forests, and solitude greet visitors who make the crossing to this barrier island off Georgia's coast.
Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida/Mississippi: American history ' Geronimo and his followers were imprisoned in Fort Pickens for 18 months ' and gorgeous beaches fronting the Gulf of Mexico make for an educational, and refreshing, destination.
Canaveral National Seashore, Florida: Twenty-four miles of undeveloped Atlantic Ocean coastline await your exploration at Canaveral. But you might have to share it with turtles ' in 2013, nearly 8,000 sea turtles came ashore to nest here.
Traveler's choice: If you're searching for a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip, Virgin Islands National Park is hard to beat with its beaches, tropical waters, history, and relaxed lifestyle. Think Swiss Family Robinson without the hardships.
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Comments
Cape Hatteras National Seashore offers some beautiful solitude and moderate weather if you time your visit between cold front. Due to the close proximity of the gulf stream the ocean water temp on the south beaches (south of Cape Point and Ocracoke Island) might be 15 or 20 degrees warmer than the beaches 20 miles north. You might not be comfortable swimming but there are many days you can go barefoot, pull up your pant legs and walk along an uncrowded beach. The fishing can be very good in December for small red drum and speckle trout and winter is the best time of year for shelling.
A couple other suggestions: Biscayne NP if you have access to a boat or Dry Tortugas NP, certainly one of the most unique areas in the National Park System, 70 some miles due west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rick
I'd second the Traveler's choice (although not to the exclusion of the other great places mentioned above). Not to be missed is the perhaps under-publicized Maho Bay. We hiked over there first thing in the morning; noone was around, and we spent our time snorkeling beside green turtles as they grazed the sea grass beds. The coral reefs are great, but this was a fantastic wildlife encounter.