Everglades Guided Ranger Tours - Everglades Slough Slog

Everglades Swamp
Tromp Tour

When to go and what to take with you
to survive the muck

Everglades Swamp Tromp (Slough Slog)

The National Park Service offers Swamp Tromps (or Slough Slogs) almost daily from mid-December through March. Most are in the Homestead area but they are offered at Shark Valley, the section park that is 30 miles west of Miami.

The tromps are free, but you'll pay $20 per vehicle to enter the park. Call ahead for times and locations: Coe Visitor Center, 305-242-7700.

Proper garb for a Swamp Tramp is essential. Most important is a pair of old shoes that can be tightly laced so they won't be sucked off. Sandals almost guarantee a spill. Also wear long pants.

Tuck the pants legs into your socks and use gray duct tape around the top of the socks to keep marl from getting into your shoes. Some people also like to wrap their shoes in tape just to make certain they don't get them sucked off their feet.

Also carry a stout walking stick to probe the mud and help keep your balance. Depending on your height, an old broom handle works well. Wrap the top of the stick in duct tape for a better grip.

Swamp Tromps are offered in the winter months when the mosquito population is at its lowest. The drier the year, the smaller the mosquito population.

The Everglades National Park Flamingo Visitor Center has famous Mosquito Meter that is more grim than amusing.

The Mosquito Meter ranks conditions accordingly: Enjoyable, Bearable, Unpleasant, Horrible and Hysterical. Winter is the only Enjoyable period.

Even so, pack insect repellent with at least a 30 percent concentration of DEET, which is a little higher than is normal and probably too high to be safe for young children.

Swamp Tromp Part 1

Swamp Tromp Part 2

To Florida Everglades

To January Hotspots Home

To Monthly Hotspots Homepage

To Florida Ecotourism Home

Everglades Swamp Tromp Tour

Everglades Swamp Tromp Tour

Everglades Swamp
Tromp Tour

Everglades Swamp
Tromp Tour