Map 18: HarneyRivertoCutoff toNorthHameyRiver(3.5miles)

One of the prettiest boat trips in the Park can be taken while in the Harney River area. By starting at the mouth of the Harney on the Gulf of Mexico, the boater can travel up the Harney River, across Tarpon Bay, up Avacado Creek and Rookery Branch all the way to the fresh water glades. This represents about a 25 mile trip from the Gulf. Rookery Branch is closed during the wading bird breeding season.

The Wilderness Waterway will bring the boater to the middle of this trip, offering the opportunity to proceed in either direction-out to the Gulf or to the inside.

Taking the entire route, the boater will pass through salt, brackish, and fresh water zones. Because the brackishwater zone lies between the others it is impossible to draw a sharp line indicating the end of salt water influence and the beginning of fresh water influence, and at certain times of the year tidal flows extend much farther inland than at other times. Also, even though the mangrove forests grow primarily around salt water, they are capable of growing in pure fresh water and can be found along the creeks at the headwaters of most of the rivers flowing from the everglades.

Aerialview oftheEastRiverrookery

Map 19: NorthHarneyRiverCutoff toSharkRiver(4.0miles)

By leaving the Wilderness Waterway at Tarpon Bay and traveling farther inland along Avocado Creek, the boater will come to the Park Service campsite called Canepatch. Here there is a small dock, clearing, picnic table, griJI, and pit toilet. Sugarcane is found growing wild in this area, and wild limes, banana, and papaya trees are present. This site was one of the Calusa Indian mounds, and later used by Seminole Indians. One authority reports Indian chickees on the site in I928.

About two miles above Canepatch is another campsite on an Indian mound. This is Little Banana Patch, so named because of the banana trees growing there. Those boaters going to Little Banana Patch will find this area much more primitive than Canepatch; however, during the winter season visitors to the area are often rewarded by the coming and going of large flocks of wood storks and other birds from the nearby rookery located farther up Rookery Branch. Because boaters are likely to disturb nesting activities, the passage into the rookery is closed during the nesting season.

In the United States wood storks nest only in peninsular Florida. Several rookeries are located in Everglades National Park, and there is also one at Corkscrew Swamp, northeast of Naples, Florida.

The Florida population was estimated in 1969 to be between I 0,000 and 12,000 birds. These birds are considered a rare and endangered species because they are so closely dependent on the diminishing everglades water supply.

In addition, many of the common fresh water species of birds found in the Park, American coots, common gallinules, and numerous species of ducks, are present in this area.