Pa-hay-okee Trail - 0.15 Miles Round-Trip

The Pa-hay-okee Overlook Trail is a short walk along a raised boardwalk which offers sweeping vistas of the Everglades river of grass. Pa-hay-okee is a Seminole word meaning grassy waters and this land has long been inhabited by American Indians. The Calusa and Miccosukee Tribes have been adapting to this landscape for centuries.

The trail starts off on a boardwalk lined with Magnolia trees. As the boardwalk cuts through a hardwood hammock, the landscape quickly opens up to reveal a Bald Cypress forest. These coniferous Bald Cypress trees lose their needle-like leaves in winter due to the seasonal drought. As their leaves fall, the acids from the decaying plant material eat away at the limestone surrounding the tree trunk. creating holes which fill with water. These solution holes, which are common in the Everglades, enable the tree to gather and save water for use during the dry season (winter). The solution holes also act as oases for wildlife during times when water is scarce.

The trail continues past the Bald Cypress forest and onto the overlook. Here, interpretive signs explain the ecology of the Shark River Slough. The slough is an 8-mile wide sheet of slowly moving water. It flows southwest towards the Gulf of Mexico and is the central support system of the Everglades.

Past the overlook, a set of stairs leads down a few feet for a close up view of the freshwater marl prairie. After passing a few more solution holes, the trail ends back at the parking area.