For some boating outings you need a small boat – a canoe, a kayak or a powerboat of 18 feet or less in length. One of those outings is a trip up the Everglades Wilderness Waterway. Extending 99 miles from the Gulf Coast Visitor's Center in Everglades City, Fla., in the Ten Thousand Islands region to Flamingo on Florida Bay, the route is noted for its beauty and its treachery. In other words, it's well worth the effort, but it's not for the novice boater.

Oyster reefs, sandbars, passages cut through banks of mud and seagrass, narrow channels, overhanging branches and shallows that are not always marked create plenty of hazards for the unskilled. You need to know your draft, understand and be able to use nautical charts and be able to "read' the water.

But oh, the sights you'll see – everything from alligators and panthers to manatees, herons, dolphins and other wildlife, mangrove forests and huge stands of cypress. Some 47 campsites dot the route, some on platforms over the water, so if you want to make an extended trip and sleep somewhere other than your boat, it's not a problem.

The Waterway is part of the Everglades National Park and is open 365 days a year. Available services vary during different times of the year. In the winter dry season most facilities are open and a full range of tours and programs are offered. In contrast, during the wet summer season, the availability of facilities and recreational opportunities may be more restricted, in large part due to the severe insect problem.

It's a good idea to check the website just before you go to get an update on conditions. At this writing, for instance, boaters and those traveling in by car are advised to fill up with gas prior to coming because gas fueling facilities at Flamingo were closed in the aftermath of a recent fuel spill.

- Linda Hoff