Marsh Trail - Ten Thousand Islands NWR — Attraction in Marco Island

We visited on a late Saturday afternoon in late Dec 2024. There was very limited parking here but we were able to get a spot. We actually did not research this stop but saw it while we were passing by and knew we wanted to hit at least one trail in the Ten Thousand Islands NWR.

We started hiking down the trail not sure what to expect. There were kiosks and signage at the trail head but we kind of glimpsed at it quickly before we went on our way. We didn't have much time but we walked down the trail and then turned left down what looked like an old asphalt/gravel road. It was nice enough you could take a wheelchair/stroller on it.

We only hiked down to where there was a overlook. There was a ramp on it as well for wheelchair/stroller access. It was a nice view. We did see a alligator but not much in the ways of birds. We did get a good sense of why the Wildlife Refuge is named Ten Thousand Islands.

We soon turned around and headed back to the parking lot as we needed to head to Ft. Myers for our hotel stay and dinner.

If we were driving down 41 we would certainly stop by here again and explore more. What was really interested was the Canoe Trails that was listed on the info kiosks. Sadly we did not bring any canoes or kayaks with us.

There were also no mosquitos that we really noticed during our visit but that could also be due to the time of...

10,000 islands is a nice trail. It’s a few mile walk to the end and back. There are open areas where you can see plenty of water and birds. A fair amount of the trail has solid brush on both sides, where it is difficult to see many birds. The trail ends with a fairly large field where we didn’t see any birds in the field. There’s an observation tower close to the front of the trail that was decent for viewing birds on the water. The trail was very easy to walk and Pleasant. We didn’t see any alligators during our trip, but I saw a lot of other posts where people have seen alligators on this trail. My daughter really enjoyed walking this trail, it was a good hike, and she saw a number of birds that were on her list to see in the Florida Everglades. I would hike this trail again and recommend it and recommend it to others because of it’s...

The marsh was spectacular when we were there and had all the all the bird watching and photographic opportunities you could possibly want. When we were there the marsh was dominated by egrets, storks and an occasional great blue heron. And all of this in the middle of the day in the bright sunlight.

We may have caught an exceptionally good viewing time but I encourage everyone to check it out if you're in the area. This was the largest collection of the wonderful birds of Florida that I have ever seen...