You're always being watched in Everglades National Park

The lush, inky green Everglades National Park that blankets much of the southern tip of Florida is best known for its mangrove forests.

However, the 1.5 million-acre subtropical wilderness encompasses a huge range of ecosystems including extensive rivers, lakes and saltwater lagoons, open prairies, islands of hardwood tree, cypress domes and pinelands.

Wildlife throughout is abundant, with alligators and crocodiles often easy to spot in the marshes and even on roadsides.

Though easy to explore on boat trips and along simple walking trails, it's when you canoe and overnight in backcountry campsites that the natural world really reveals itself.