The Billie Swamp Safari Park: Off the Beaten Path in Florida

Luckily, I did some quick checking on the Internet before we left. The Everglades National Park offered buggy tours but no airboat tours, while commercial services in and around the park offered airboat tours at exorbitant prices and would take a good part of the day. Driving distances were also a factor – we wanted to do this in one day, and the Billie Swamp Safari Park was about the shortest drive possible. After weighing all options, I decided we would try a visit to the Billie Swamp Safari on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation if the opportunity arose – and so it did!

The Big Cypress Seminole Reservation is located just above the northern boundaries of the U.S. Everglades National Park, and below Lake Okeechobee. The best way to get there is to take I-75 to Exit 49, and then drive roughly 19 miles along marked county roads. We got slightly lost, but luckily had the number of the park with us, and they were very helpful in directing us back on track! There are directions from multiple locations on their site. The website itself is very cool – the roaring bear can get to you after awhile, but there's lots of nice graphics and well organized information, including their restaurant menu, photos of the activities, and discount coupons.

From the Sarasota area, it takes roughly three hours to get there. The car drive was essentially uninspiring and a bit worrisome – you find yourself in remote areas with long stretches of roads, surrounded by alternating open fields and orange groves, with occasional plumes of smoke rising from distant orange processing plants. However, once we arrived all was well! Just before you get to Billie Swamp Safari, you will pass the Seminole Native American museum, Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum. Unfortunately, we did not budget time for the museum, but it looked very impressive on the outside and will be on our list of things to get back to at a future travel date.

An alligator beneath the swampy water