Trails
Cypress Trail
Open Season: Year Round; Sunrise to Sunset
Length: 0.25 miles one-way
Location of trail: Behind the Main Visitor Center on FM 563
Surface Paved, Boardwalk, ADA compliant
Difficulty: Easy
The Cypress Trail meanders through bottomland hardwood forest full of oaks, hackberry, sweetgum, and pine. It leads visitors to a long boardwalk towards the peaceful Lake Anahuac. Wading birds, terns, gulls, raptors, woodpeckers, wood ducks, warblers, turtles, otters, and mink can be seen here.
A separate 0.1-mile (0.16 km) paved path branches off this trail and leads to a wildlife photography blind. This is a great place to see finches, sparrows, woodpeckers, vireos, tanagers, and fly-catchers.
Honeysuckle Trail
Open Season: Year Round
Length: 0.10 miles
Location of trail: Skillern Tract
Surface : Grass
Difficulty: Easy
The Honeysuckle Trail offers a very short 0.1-mile (0.16 km) grass path through shrubs to a scenic knoll and large fishing deck. The trail starts at a parking lot on the corner of the main road. Wading birds, gulls, terns, raptors, woodpeckers, wood ducks, mottled ducks, warblers, finches, sparrows, vireos, tanagers, and fly-catchers can be seen in this area.
This is also a good place to catch catfish and gar.
Hackberry Trail
Open Season: Year Round
Length: 0.67 miles
Location of trail: Main refuge off of FM 1985
Surface: Gravel
Difficulty: Moderate
The Hackberry Trail is a 0.67-mile (1.08 km) trail that borders a moist-soil unit. The straight gravel path offers two accessible observation platforms. Wading birds, plovers, sandpipers, rails, and a large species of waterfowl (during the fall and winter) can be seen from the observation platforms.
Sparrows, finches, vireos, warblers, rails, kingfishers, and raptors.
Live Oak Trail
Open Season: Year Round; subject to closures during flooding
Length: 1.00 mile
Location of trail: Skillern Tract
Surface: Grass
Difficulty: Moderate
The Live Oak Trail offers a 1-mile (1.6 km) vegetated path following East Bay Bayou. The south end of the trail has a paved parking lot, bathrooms, and a separate sidewalk leading to an accessible wildlife observation deck. On the north end of the trail a grassy levee provides access to a more primitive parking area and a rustic fishing deck along the trail.
Wading birds, gulls, terns, raptors, woodpeckers, wood ducks, mottled ducks, warblers, finches, sparrows, vireos, tanagers, and fly-catchers can be seen in this area.
Rookery Trail
Open Season: Year Round
Length: 0.24 miles
Location of trail: Skillern Tract
Surface: Paved, Accessible
Difficulty: Easy
The Rookery Trail offers an accessible 0.24-mile (0.39 km) paved path to a wooded observation deck. Take a stroll through some of our thickest woods and come out overlooking the beginnings of a rookery project.
Wading birds, gulls, terns, raptors, woodpeckers, wood ducks, mottled ducks, warblers, finches, sparrows, vireos, tanagers, and fly-catchers can be seen in this area.
Shoveler Pond Auto Tour Loop and Boardwalk Trail
Open Season: Year Round
Length: 2.64 mile tour loop and 0.14 mile boardwalk
Location of trail: Main refuge off of FM 1985
Surface: Paved, Boardwalk, Accessible
Difficulty: Easy
Wildlife enthusiasts in search of a lot of alligators will most definitely enjoy the 2.64 mile (4.25 km) Shoveler Pond auto tour loop. A boardwalk and overlook along this route provide excellent opportunities to enjoy the sites and appreciate the sounds. This is a must experience for anyone visiting the refuge!
Gallinules, roseate spoonbills, ibis, herons, egrets, wrens, warblers, buntings, rails, and blackbirds are seen in this area.
During the fall and winter there are large and diverse populations of waterfowl.
Willows Trail and Butterfly Garden
Open Season: Year Round
Length: 0.71 miles
Location of trail: Main refuge off of FM 1985
Surface: Grass, Paved, Boardwalk, Accessible
Accessible and family-friendly, the Butterfly Garden provides a colorful space for everyone to appreciate the joys of nature. Monarchs, fritillaries, and swallowtails dance among the flowers and lay their eggs on the native host plants. The paved path of the Butterfly Garden also connects you to the Willows Trail. Search for small birds as you stroll the boardwalk one way, and then continue as you take the grassy path back. Enjoy this world-renown birding hotspot and take note of the changing plants and habitats around you. Bring plenty of water and bug spray!
Grosbeaks, tanagers, buntings, catbirds, sparrows, and warblers can be seen at the butterfly garden
Along with those species you'll also see thrushes, thrashers, along the willows trail.
Woodlot Trail
Open Season: Year Round
Length: 0.12 miles
Location of trail: Main refuge off of FM 1985
Surface: Paved
Difficulty: Easy
Hands down, this trail offers the best birding for warblers, buntings, and vireos. This solitary clump of giant trees provides crucial habitat for many of the migratory birds that have just flown 600 miles across the Gulf of Mexico and are exhausted. For many of these small birds, the Woodlot is their first opportunity to find food and shelter. Sit quietly at the Toni Marchetti bird blind and watch the amazing activity of birds as they hydrate at our newly designed water feature and work to regain their strength for the rest of their migration.
Fly-catchers, sparrows, blackbirds, cuckoos, nighthawks, swifts, hummingbirds, rails, owls, raptors, wading birds, and much more. 244 species of birds have been identified at this trail.