Where to see
Alligator mississippiensis
Big Cypress National Preserve leads · 4 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting an American Alligator during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Big Cypress National Preserve
In Big Cypress National Preserve, United States, about 90% of wildlife watchers report an American Alligator sighting on a given day, the highest of the 4 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
Everglades National Park and more
After Big Cypress National Preserve, the next-best odds of seeing an American Alligator are in Everglades National Park (United States, about 80%), Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 70%) and Congaree National Park (United States, about 50%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are April and December in Big Cypress National Preserve (over 90%), December to April in Everglades National Park (about 90%) and February in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (about 80%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report an American Alligator on a given day. Each park's American Alligator page has the full month-by-month chart.
