The Everglades Are More Out-Of-This-World Gorgeous Than You Thought

Florida is known as the place where shuttles launched into space . But the view from the ground is pretty nifty, too.

Mark Andrew Thomas is a Florida-based wildlife photographer who grew up near the Everglades , a tropical wilderness of varied ecosystems fed by a slow-moving “river of grass” some 60 miles wide. His latest project is a lineup of crystal-clear images that make his surrogate backyard look downright otherworldly. 

Everglades National Park is known as an especially stellar spot for stargazing , thanks to its distance from city lights and superbly dark sky. Turns out it’s also a great place to unplug .

“It’s the place where I feel the most centered , the place I go to when life’s stresses and problems seem overwhelming,” Thomas wrote in a description of his photos. “It’s where I go to think and decompress.”

We’d feel pretty calm here, too.