Picnic Key

Located in the Everglades region, Picnic Key is an island with a long narrow unnamed white-sand beach with nearby forested areas. This beach is also known as Picnic Key Beach. Picnic Key is a part of a national park named Everglades National Park. This island is also a part of a larger archipelago known as the Ten Thousand Islands. 

Picnic Key does not have lifeguards or any other amenities except restrooms and benches. 

The beach in Picnic Key offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, camping, fishing, wildlife watching, hiking, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, and boating. If you are planning to enter the water near Picnic Key, we recommend being careful as the deepwater here is known to have dangerous rip currents. In addition, Picnic Key and the area around it are known to have unpredictable storms throughout the year. Depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of animals in the water near Picnic Key including manatees, alligators, and dolphins. The beach in Picnic Key offers an amazing waterfront camping experience. However, if you are planning to camp in Picnic Key, please note that you need to have a wilderness camping permit for the same. You can visit the National Park Service’s website for more information regarding permit rules. If you are planning to fish in the water near Picnic Key, please make sure that you follow the local fishing regulations. The beach in Picnic Key offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Ten Thousand Islands archipelago.

Getting to Picnic Key is difficult - the only way to visit Picnic Key is via boat or kayak/canoe. In order to visit Picnic Key, you need to first reach the Gulf Coast Visitor Center of Everglades National Park. This center is present near 815 Oyster Bar Lane. You can use the boat and kayak/canoe launch present here to launch your watercraft in the water. You can use an aquatic pass named Indian Key Pass to travel to Picnic Key - Picnic Key is present near the end of this aquatic pass. If you are planning to visit Picnic Key, we recommend being familiar with the local water currents and tides as it would help in making your boating and kayaking/canoeing trip smoother. In addition, we also recommend informing the National Park Service authorities present in Gulf Coast Visitor Center about your visit before embarking on your boating/canoeing/kayaking trip to Picnic Key.

There are many attractions near Picnic Key. The Museum of the Everglades is set in a 1920s building and it is a part of the United States National Register of Historic Places. This museum offers a unique insight into the vibrant history of the Everglades region. Smallwood Store is a historic store/museum in the community of Chokoloskee which was built in 1906. This historic site is a part of the United States National Register of Historic Places. Smallwood Store has a variety of interesting exhibits which highlight the history of South-western Florida’s early settlers. Smallwood Store also has a gift shop. If you are looking for another attraction near Picnic Key, H.P. Williams Roadside Park has picnic areas and an observation area that offers views of a cypress swamp and a waterway. You can view many kinds of animals around the park including alligators and sea turtles, along with a variety of bird species including anhingas, herons, and egrets. The park also has a boardwalk - this boardwalk has interpretive panels about the local wildlife. 

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Picnic Key in the nearby Everglades City. City Seafood Restaurant & Market has a rustic ambiance and it offers a memorable waterfront dining experience. This restaurant also serves excellent locally sourced seafood. City Seafood Restaurant & Market is especially known for offering delicious stone crabs on a seasonal basis. Camellia Street Grill serves amazing seafood and Southern United States Cuisine including sautéed alligator, chicken wings, fried seafood baskets, burgers, steaks, salads, barbecued dishes, and soups. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Picnic Key, Island Cafe serves excellent dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including pancakes, biscuits and gravy, sandwiches, wraps, seafood, pastas, burgers, steaks, and pizza. 

If you are looking for a hotel near Picnic Key, there are many great options. If you are looking for an upscale hotel, the 4-Star Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa is a 40-minute drive way from Everglades City. This hotel offers many amenities including two restaurants, a lounge, a pool, a spa, a fitness center (open 24 hours a day and seven days a week), two tennis courts, an activity program for children. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Everglades Rod & Gun Club, which offers many amenities including a restaurant, a large pool, a screened-in porch, two bar lounges, boat rental facilities, a public boat ramp, picnic areas, tennis courts, private guides for fishing expeditions, and a helicopter landing area. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Picnic Key, the 2-Star Ivey House Everglades Adventures Hotel offers many amenities including a pool, landscaped courtyard garden, and complimentary breakfast.