A visit to Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a journey into the heart of the Everglades ecosystem. Discover the rugged beauty of this famed natural area on Corkscrew’s famous boardwalk – a 2.25-mile adventure through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, around a marsh, and finally into the largest old growth Bald Cypress forest in North America.
Located about 30 minutes east of Naples, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is home to hundreds of alligators, otters, white-tailed deer, and red-bellied turtles. A wide variety of wading birds, songbirds, and raptors can be seen throughout the year, while the fabulous Painted Bunting is one of many winter visitors. Photo opportunities are available at every turn of the boardwalk trail.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary occupies approximately 13,450 acres in the heart of the Corkscrew Watershed in Southwest Florida, part of the Western Everglades. It is primarily composed of wetlands. These include the largest remaining, virgin bald cypress forest in the world (approximately 700 acres), which was historically the site of the largest nesting colony of Federally Endangered Wood Storks in the nation. In addition to the Wood Stork, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary provides important habitat for numerous other Federal and State listed species, including the Florida panther, American alligator, gopher tortoise, Florida sandhill crane, Limpkin, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Big Cypress fox squirrel, and the Florida black bear. Several rare plants are also found here, most notably the ghost orchid.
Our mission: To preserve Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and support conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems throughout the Western Everglades. We use science driven land management and education to protect birds, other wildlife, and people.
For more information visit: https://corkscrew.audubon.org/
