30

Stop 30 marks a point along an Everglades observation route where the breadth of the freshwater marsh becomes fully apparent. The famous River of Grass — a slow-moving sheet of water barely ankle-deep in most places — flows through this landscape with a quiet persistence that defines the Everglades. At this stop, it is worth simply standing still for a few minutes. The Everglades rewards stillness: the longer you wait, the more you notice — a purple gallinule picking its way across lily pads, or a hawk circling high above the sawgrass searching for prey below.