Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in Copeland, Collier County, Florida, protects the Fakahatchee Strand — the largest strand swamp in North America — a 20-mile-long, 3-to-5-mile-wide corridor of old-growth cypress forest, tropical hammock, and freshwater marsh draining southward through the Big Cypress watershed toward the Ten Thousand Islands and Gulf of Mexico. The park encompasses approximately 85,000 acres and sits adjacent to the Everglades system, forming a critical ecological corridor through south Florida's remaining wilderness. Fakahatchee hosts the greatest concentration and diversity of orchids in North America, with 44 native orchid species documented within the strand — including the legendary ghost orchid, which attracted widespread attention through Susan Orlean's 1998 book The Orchid Thief and its subsequent film adaptation. The ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) grows epiphytically high in pond apple and bald cypress canopy, producing ethereal white flowers from May through August, and is considered the rarest and most dramatic wild orchid in the United States. The park's primary visitor experience is the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk on US-41 — a short half-mile elevated walkway through an ancient bald cypress forest with trees draped in resurrection fern and bromeliad. More adventurous visitors can wade the interior swamp with a licensed guide, walking the old tram road on the park's east side for deeper wilderness access. The park is also notable for its bald eagle nests, wood storks, Everglades mink, Florida black bear, and the rare American crocodile in the southern reaches toward the mangrove fringe.