Union Slough
Titonka, IA 50480-7086
Plan Your Visit
National wildlife refuges offer the outdoor enthusiast an opportunity to escape from the stresses of daily life and reconnect with nature. Be it the rich call of trumpeter swans, the vivid waves of windswept wildflowers or the wingbeat of mallards over decoys, a variety of outdoor experiences await visitors to Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding waterfowl production areas.
Points of Interest
A kiosk is located outside of the refuge office to welcome you and provide the information needed to give you a good start to exploring the refuge. If you’re visiting during our office hours, stop in and let our staff help plan your visit! The office houses interactive displays and a diorama, which shows the wildlife and habitat you may experience on the refuge.
A wildlife observation platform and a four-mile wildlife auto tour are open in late summer and around World Migratory Bird Day, in early May, as well as during National Wildlife Refuge Week, in early October. Look for the access point near the refuge office.
Buffalo Creek Bottoms Unit is open year round to hiking and offers an up-close and personal experience with refuge wildlife.
The prairie and wetland habitat on the waterfowl production areas surrounding the refuge also provide year round recreational opportunities like wildlife observation, photography, hunting and hiking. The Maynard Reece Waterfowl Production Area, located two miles west of the north end of the refuge on County Highway A-40, is particularly popular.
Activities
More Activities
Get Involved
Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to join us in fulfilling our mission by volunteering. Refuge volunteers help maintain and collect data on wood duck nesting structures, conduct wildlife surveys and inventories, harvest native prairie and wetland seeds, and provide interpretation.
About
Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge, located in north-central Iowa, preserves a pre-glacial riverbed that connects the Blue Earth River and the East Fork of the Des Moines River watersheds. Established in 1938, the 3,334-acre refuge provides critical marsh, prairie, and bottomland habitat for migratory waterfowl in a landscape dominated by agriculture. It also serves as a management hub for the Iowa Wetland Management District and portions of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge.