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Everglades Wonder Gardens

Bonita Springs, Lee County
ANIMALS
8STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN

WHAT IT IS

A 1936 roadside zoo of alligators and flamingos, kept almost exactly as it was by the photographer who saved it.

The Piper brothers opened it in 1936 as a place to see the animals people were driving through the Everglades hoping to see. It ran, essentially unchanged, for 77 years. When the family closed it in 2013 a local photographer took over the lease rather than let it be demolished, and it reopened as a botanical garden that still has alligators. Hand-painted signs, banyan roots through the walkways, no theming whatsoever.

HOW IT SCORES

Rarity7/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory9/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair7/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment8/10
How far do they take the bit?

NEARBY

The Shell Factory27 mi · North Fort Myers Cape Romano Dome House34 mi · Marco Island Ochopee Post Office42 mi · Ochopee

BEFORE YOU DRIVE

ENTRY FEE
$15
HOURS
Daily 9am–5pm
BEST TIME
Feeding times; ask at the gate.
HOW LONG
1–2 hours
PARKING
Street and small lot
PAYMENT
Cards accepted
ACCESS
Boardwalks, mostly flat
COORDINATES
26.3397° N, 81.7803° W

27180 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs.

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DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.