2014 America the Beautiful Quarters ^™

An average of a million people each year visit Everglades National Park, home to the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. In 2014, it will finish that year's America the Beautiful coin set.

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK OVERVIEW

The third largest national park in the lower 48, Everglades yawns across over one and a half million acres of wilderness. Unlike other parks, it was established to protect an ecosytem rather than a geographic feature. The wetlands that comprise the Everglades flow together into a delicate network of marshland and forest ecosytems, including thirty-six species designated as threatened or protected. All told, more than 300 species of birds, 300 species of fish, 40 species of mammals and 50 species of reptiles make their home within the park.

Human visitors tend to do so between December and March, when both the temperatures and the mosquito activity is down. Camping, hiking, and sightseeing are popular. Fishing, however, is only permissible with a state license, and motorized personal watercraft are not allwoed. Swimming is technically legal but not recommended, as dangerous animals like snapping turtles and alligators thrive in the fresh water.

Everglades National Park has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of International Importance, one of only three locations to receive all three distinctions.