Photos by Cheryl Landes

The H.P. Williams Roadside Park, in the Big Cypress National Preserve on the Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) near Ochopee, Florida, has a picnic area and a 200-meter (656-foot) boardwalk with a view of the cypress trees and the Turner River Canal. The park is named in honor of Homer P. Williams, an engineer who supervised the construction of U.S. 41 in the 1920s.

Alligators, turtles, egrets, herons, hawks, and anhingas are commonly seen here. During my brief stop, I saw six alligators swimming in the canal or stretched out in the grass along the canal, along with one snake.

The H.P. Williams Roadside Park is 74 miles west of Miami.