FLORIDA · BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE · NOVEMBER
November is when a Big Cypress trip gets easier to plan. At the Miami station NOAA uses for these normals, the average high falls to 81.3°F from October’s 85.9°F, and rainfall drops to 3.53 inches from 7.65. For a preserve you explore on foot, by boardwalk and from a car window on the Tamiami Trail, you now plan around sunset more than around storms.
The Atlantic hurricane season still runs until November 30 (the calendar lives in our Florida overview), and the sun sets at 5:33 pm on the 15th. Fly into Miami or Fort Myers, give the preserve two full days with the night between spent close by, and build each day around roughly 11 hours of light.
NOVEMBER AT A GLANCE · BIG CYPRESS
Go in November for dry-season conditions (3.53 inches of rain and 81.3°F highs at the Miami station), and plan every day around a 5:33 pm sunset.
DRY SEASON OPENS · HURRICANE SEASON ENDS NOV 30 · SUNSET 5:33 PM ON THE 15TH
Go for: boardwalk and trail days with less than half October’s rain, afternoons 4.6°F cooler than October’s, and early starts at a 6:37 am sunrise.
Think twice before: booking a non-refundable stay while hurricane season runs to November 30, or counting on long evenings with 10 hours 55 minutes of daylight on the 15th.
Climate: NOAA NCEI 1991–2020, Miami station · Daylight: sunrise-sunset.org · full sources at the end
On this page
- Big Cypress weather in November81.3°F highs, 4.7 rain days, 5:33 pm sunset
- How warm are mornings and afternoons?A 13°F swing from 68.3°F dawns
- Crowds, booking and lodging taxThanksgiving week, refundable rooms, Everglades City
- Things to do in NovemberOasis Visitor Center, Kirby Storter, Loop Road
- A two-day Big Cypress itineraryTwo days from a 6:37 am sunrise
- November vs October and DecemberHighs of 85.9°F, 81.3°F and 78.2°F
- Is November a good time to go?Who should go now, who should wait for December
Where to sleep, what a Florida week costs and how the preserve slots into a longer drive are covered in our where-to-stay guide, the Florida trip-cost breakdown and the Florida road trip. The neighboring park has its own guide in our Everglades coverage, and the wetter month before this one is in Big Cypress in October.
Big Cypress National Preserve weather in November: average highs, lows and rain days
| November normal (Miami station) | Value | In a trip day |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 81.3°F | Warm midday on an open boardwalk |
| Average low | 68.3°F | A light layer for a dawn start |
| Precipitation | 3.53 inches | Pack a rain shell |
| Days with 0.10 inch or more | 4.7 | About one day in six |
| Daylight, November 15 | 10 h 55 min | Sunrise 6:37 am, sunset 5:33 pm EST |
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information publishes these 1991–2020 normals for station USW00012839 in Miami: an average November high of 81.3°F, a low of 68.3°F and 3.53 inches of rain. They come from a real thermometer rather than a reanalysis grid cell, but that thermometer stands on the coast. The preserve sits inland along the Tamiami Trail, where winter nights run colder than the city’s, so read every figure here as Miami’s and expect the swamp at dawn to feel cooler.
Measurable rain, at least 0.10 inch, falls on 4.7 days in an average November, roughly one day in six. On a two-day visit the odds favor two dry mornings. Keep a rain shell in the car and leave one afternoon loose, so a shower moves your walk by a few hours instead of canceling it.
The day bag for a November visit holds a long-sleeve shirt or light fleece for the cool start, a wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen for midday, insect repellent for the canal edges at dusk, and more water than feels necessary. Wear closed shoes if you plan to leave the boardwalks for the trail. Swap the fleece into the car by mid-morning, when the air is climbing toward the afternoon high.
On November 15 the sun rises at 6:37 am and sets at 5:33 pm Eastern Standard Time, for 10 hours 55 minutes of daylight after the switch back to standard time. The best light for photographs comes in the hour before sunset. Start the drive back to Miami or Naples before dark: the Tamiami Trail through the preserve is a two-lane road where wildlife crosses at night.
How warm is Big Cypress National Preserve in November?
Warm by any northern standard: the Miami station averages 81.3°F at the top of the day and 68.3°F at the bottom, a 13°F gap. Against October the afternoon loses 4.6°F and the night 5.9°F, so the change you notice most comes after dark. We found no verified water-temperature series for the preserve, an inland stretch of swamp and prairie, so we give no sea figure. The sea readings we publish for coastal Florida are averages of daily maximums, a little warmer than a 24-hour mean.
For a 7 am boardwalk walk, go with long sleeves and long trousers, which also keep mosquitoes off at the waterside. By noon, shorts and a breathable shirt handle the 81°F afternoon, and the hat matters more than any layer on open sawgrass. For a Loop Road drive with stops, dress for the afternoon and keep the fleece on the back seat.
Our source gives no count of freezing nights for November, and we could not read a frost-day figure for the station. The mean low at Miami is 68.3°F. Inland nights run colder than the city’s, so check the forecast for Ochopee or Everglades City before a dawn start, and pack a warmer jacket if a cold front is due.
How busy is Big Cypress National Preserve in November? Crowds and prices
November opens Florida’s dry season, which our Florida overview dates from November through April. We found no occupancy or room-rate series for the Tamiami Trail corridor, so we rank no month as cheap or expensive. Thanksgiving week falls in this month, and holiday weeks are the annual price peaks across the state.
Without occupancy data we give no count of weeks ahead. Book refundable: hurricane season lasts until November 30, and flexible rates are the standard advice for the fall window. If your dates touch Thanksgiving, lock in the room and the rental car before the flights, and use our airport guide to choose between Miami and Fort Myers.
We could not verify the lodging-tax rate for the towns where preserve visitors sleep, from Naples and Everglades City in Collier County to Miami-Dade in the east, so we give no percentage. Ask for the all-in total, taxes and any resort fee included, before you confirm a booking.
Spend any extra money on location. A room in Everglades City, near the preserve’s western edge, puts you on a boardwalk for the 6:37 am sunrise instead of in Miami traffic. In a day of 10 hours 55 minutes, that first hour brings the coolest air and the busiest birdlife.
Things to do in Big Cypress National Preserve in November
November brings back full days outdoors at a comfortable pace. Rainfall at the Miami station falls to less than half of October’s total (3.53 inches against 7.65), and afternoons ease to 81.3°F. Long walks on the Florida National Scenic Trail, whose southern terminus lies in Big Cypress, become a morning plan again, and so does a slow Loop Road drive with the windows down.
The Oasis Visitor Center on US 41 is the usual first stop, with a boardwalk above a canal where alligators and wading birds gather. A short drive west, the Kirby Storter Roadside Park boardwalk leads into a cypress dome. Loop Road, a largely unpaved route off the Tamiami Trail, is the preserve’s classic scenic drive. Check the NPS Big Cypress page for current hours, boardwalk lengths, and parking counts before you set out.
Between October and November the afternoons at the Miami station lose 4.6°F, the nights 5.9°F, and the rainy days fall from 9.0 to 4.7. A 2 pm walk at Kirby Storter turns warm instead of oppressive. A Loop Road drive also runs a lower risk of being cut short by a storm.
We could not confirm entrance fees in our sources, so we quote none. The scenic drive costs you fuel and nothing else: US 41 crosses the preserve as a public highway with no toll booth, and the Oasis and Kirby Storter boardwalks sit right beside it.
Big Cypress National Preserve in November: a two-day itinerary
Day one, from Miami. Leave in the dark to reach the Oasis Visitor Center area near the 6:37 am sunrise, when the air sits close to the 68.3°F normal low and the animals are moving. Walk the Kirby Storter boardwalk by 9 am, then drive Loop Road through the late morning with stops at the water. Break for lunch as the afternoon climbs toward 81.3°F. From 3 pm, work back toward the canal overlooks for the last light, and drive west to your Everglades City room before the 5:33 pm sunset.
Day two, from Everglades City. Walk a morning section of the Florida National Scenic Trail and turn around before midday, then spend the afternoon on the roadside boardwalks you skipped. If rain arrives on one of November’s 4.7 wet days, move the trail to the afternoon or to a third morning, and fill the gap with the drive east into Everglades National Park along the same highway.
Big Cypress National Preserve in November vs October and December
| Miami station normal | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 85.9°F | 81.3°F | 78.2°F |
| Average low | 74.2°F | 68.3°F | 64.3°F |
| Precipitation | 7.65 in | 3.53 in | 2.44 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 9.0 | 4.7 | 3.7 |
From October to December the afternoon high steps down from 85.9°F to 81.3°F to 78.2°F, and the low from 74.2°F to 68.3°F to 64.3°F. Rain shrinks faster: 7.65 inches in October, 3.53 in November, 2.44 in December, with measurable-rain days falling from 9.0 to 4.7 to 3.7.
Four weeks earlier, you get nights about 6°F warmer, more than twice the rain and nine wet days, with hurricane season still running (details in Big Cypress in October). Four weeks later, December cuts 1.09 inches of rain and one wet day and ends the hurricane-season caveat, but dawn cools to 64.3°F and the calendar moves toward the holiday weeks.
Is November a good time to visit Big Cypress National Preserve?
Yes for walkers, photographers and first-time visitors who want dry-season conditions without waiting for winter: 4.7 rainy days and 81.3°F afternoons make a two-day trip comfortable. It is a weaker yes for travelers who want long evenings, with the light gone at 5:33 pm, and for anyone unable to book a refundable room while hurricane season runs to November 30.
If November does not fit, pick early December. Its normals run cooler and drier (78.2°F, 2.44 inches, 3.7 rainy days), hurricane season is over, and our Florida overview counts early December among the state’s quiet bargain periods. You trade that for 64.3°F dawns. The Florida month-by-month calendar sets it against the rest of the year.
Among the three months, November pairs rain at less than half October’s total with afternoons warmer than December’s, 81.3°F against 78.2°F.
The last word
Book the refundable room in Everglades City, set the alarm for the 6:37 am sunrise and keep one afternoon unplanned. An average November at the Miami station brings one day with an inch of rain or more, and if it lands on your trip, spend it driving the Tamiami Trail east and save the Kirby Storter boardwalk for the next clear morning.
Sources & data for this guide
- November, October and December normals (high, low, precipitation, days at 0.10 in or more, days at 1 in or more) · NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 monthly normals, station USW00012839, Miami · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Station caveat: the thermometer is in coastal Miami, and inland winter nights run colder · NOAA NCEI, same station · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Daylight, sunrise and sunset on November 15 (11:37 and 22:33 UTC, converted to EST) · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Dry season, hurricane season through November 30, holiday-week peaks and early-December bargains · our Florida overview (National Weather Service, NOAA National Hurricane Center) · checked Sep 24, 2026
- What we could not verify: water temperature, frost-day counts, entrance fees, boardwalk lengths, hours, parking and lodging-tax rates. Place descriptions are editorial · check the NPS Big Cypress page before you go.
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Big Cypress National Preserve: Dry Season Months, Summer Heat and Rainfall
- Big Cypress National Preserve in October: Weather, Rain Days and Crowds vs September and November
- Big Cypress National Preserve in December: Weather, Daylight, Crowds and a Two-Day Plan
- Big Cypress National Preserve in January: Weather, Daylight, Crowds and a Two-Day Itinerary