Epic Travel → North America → The South → Florida → Tampa Bay Area → Deep Hole

Location: Myakka River State Park, Florida

Time Required: 2+ hours (depending on how much time you spend viewing the gators)

Distance: 4.4 miles

Elevation Gain/Loss: virtually none

Red Tape/Notes: Only 30 people allowed in per day. You’ll want to arrive before the park opens at 8am (probably aim to arrive between 7:30am to be sure of a spot) and QUEUE UP AT THE OFFICE. Don’t wait outside the gate – there was a long queue of cars waiting for the gates to open at 8am, and they were all told to park and walk in to the office to apply for a permit – which means all the people physically at the office at 8am (there were around 20 of us when we went) were ahead of the people waiting at the gate. If you don’t have a park pass to get inside early, you could always park outside the gates somewhere and walk in. It’s $6 per car to enter the park in general, but the permits are free.  The hike is easy but the scenery is largely uninspiring and almost entirely without shade – it was pleasant enough in the winter but it would be quite miserable in the summer.

What’s Nearby?: Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, The Ringling, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota Honey Company, Solomon’s Castle

Everyone knows Florida has gators, but if you want a chance to see loads of them in their native habitat, this is a great option. The Deep Hole is basically what it sounds like: it’s a 200 foot wide sinkhole (estimated to be about 130 feet deep) on the south side of Lower Myakka Lake. The depth is estimated because no one is particularly interested in diving the hole to find out the precise depth, seeing as gators (lots of gators) love to hang out here – researchers have counted as many as 120 at a time. Interestingly enough, no one is quite sure why they like it here so much. Getting to the hole is extremely straightforward, once you’ve obtained your coveted permit: you’ll receive a gate code with your permit that allows you to access the road to the parking area, then you’ll walk around a gate and follow a rather uneventful dirt road 2.2 miles to the Deep Hole. Upon reaching the banks of the sinkhole, you should immediately see a bunch of gators – lots will be just hanging out in the water, their little gator eyes protruding above the surface to keep an eye on you, and there will probably be some hanging out on the banks of the hole. Depending on where they’re congregated, you may need to do some maneuvering to get a better angle on them – we bushwhacked around the circumference of the hole to get to the other side and were rewarded with much better views.

Epic Travel → North America → The South → Florida → Tampa Bay Area → Deep Hole