Photos: judygva / CC BY 2.0 · Everglades NPS (NPS photo by G. Gardner) / Public domain · Keith Ramos, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain
Go in winter if you can. Manatees crowd the warm springs from mid-November through March, and the wading birds are thickest on the same cool, dry mornings.
14 places · Florida
Must-seeIt's the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles share the water, across 1.5 million acres of sawgrass and mangrove.
Must-seeHundreds come in to the 72-degree spring run each winter. The boardwalk above the springs is how you see them; paddle craft stay out until April 1.
Must-seeTake the Black Point Wildlife Drive slowly. Alligators and bald eagles both turn up along it, and the refuge holds more endangered and threatened species than almost any other in the lower 48.
Must-seeThe four-mile Wildlife Drive runs past tidal flats where roseate spoonbills and ibis feed, best at low tide. The Bailey Tract, off Tarpon Bay Road, is free and has nearly 3 miles of loop trails.
Must-seeOn the coldest mornings more than 900 manatees have been counted in the run, which holds at 72 degrees all year. Watch from the riverside boardwalk.
Lakes & rivers
Gardens & wildlife
Gardens & wildlife
Springs
Gardens & wildlife
Gardens & wildlife
Lakes & rivers
Gardens & wildlife
Lakes & riversOther lists that cover the same ground.
26 placesThis list has 26 of Florida's 175 or so state parks. Book Blue Spring before you drive: it needs a day-use reservation.
24 placesEvery spring on this list stays between 68 and 74 degrees all year, and from mid-November through March the manatees move into Blue Spring and Three Sisters. You watch them from the boardwalk.
7 placesSeven places to see wild manatees in Florida, picked for how many turn up on a cold winter morning. Go between mid-November and March, after a cold snap drops the bays and rivers below 68 degrees.
63 placesAll 63, for anyone keeping count, with the famous ones up top and the quieter ones further down.