Level Up Your Outdoor Experience Glamping at Everglades National Park

Eco-tents offer a new overnight accommodations experience at Flamingo through a concessionaire.

Sometimes the best engineering idea doesn’t result in an actual structure. That’s the case in Everglades National Park in Florida, after the National Park Service (NPS) completed the Flamingo Master Plan and Design Program for the park.

With hurricanes causing substantial damage to the aging Flamingo lodge and cottages, they were forced to shut down. With public input in the planning process, the solution for providing overnight accommodations in the area now integrates principles of sustainable design though the use of eco-tents.

You might ask what exactly is an eco-tent? It is a cost-effective, eco-friendly, elevated glamping tent. Within each eco-tent, you will find electricity, a queen or two full-sized beds, a chest of drawers, a bookshelf, sheets, and a bug protection screening that you can zip/unzip whenever you’d like. Another great aspect of the glamping eco-tents is that each has a private patio (elevated deck) with comfy outdoor seating.

At Flamingo, instead of rebuilding permanent facilities, the eco-tents provide visitors with accommodations (38 miles from the park entrance), while helping make facilities resilient to the effects of climate change (storm surge, sea level rise, etc.) by not rebuilding permanently in high risk areas. The eco-tents can be moved in cases of severe hurricanes, or can be permanently moved if the Flamingo area is transformed over the next few decades by effects of sea-level rise.

So not only is this solution sustainable and resilient to the effects of climate change, it will redefine your experience in this historic location, giving you plenty of stories to share with friends and family.