First and foremost, this park is on the edge of the Everglades. We saw no alligators but some of the mosquitos seemed to be as big and at least as hungry. We arrived at dusk and our only outdoor activity was plugging in and taking on water. By the time those chores were finished the wildlife had discovered us and nothing short of serious chemicals would make the warm evening any more tolerable.
In the morning we took in the blockhouse, just outside the campground. It is one of three built around 1940 as an interpretation of seminole war forts. This one was used for a time as the park caretaker’s residence. There is a substantial center pole holding up the roof rafters.
Closer to the park entrance was the walking dredge. It was built by the Bay City Dredge Works in 1924 and was declared a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1993. It’s claim to fame is that it was used to build the Tamiami Trail, the first road through the Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp to connect Tampa and Miami.
The dredge “walked” by extending the center “feet” thereby lifting the entire structure and then using several cables on the trusses on each side the machine would slide about ten feet. The center feet could then be retracted so the dredge rested on feet at its corners. Then the center feet returned to their starting position and the process could be repeated. The dredge could walk backwards by reversing the procedure. The bottom frame of the dredge is forty feet wide and thirty feet front to back.
The campground had just reopened on Thursday after extensive renovations. Facilities were as expected.