Please Leave Your Dog At Home

In addition to protecting birds and other native wildlife from disturbance, the "no dogs" policy is also in place to protect your pup. The refuge is full of hidden dangers big (American alligators) and small (LOTS of ticks!). So please, while visiting this special place, be sure to do your part to protect wildlife, your pet, and your wallet (violators of this regulation will be ticketed and fined) by leaving all pets at home.

As one of Georgia's barrier islands, Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge provides protection to the coastline and habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including summertime nesting sea turtles, and year-round shorebird activity.

Latest News

A tiny sea turtle hatchling crawls across the sand to the ocean at Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.
Recreation
Summer Sights
Here’s what you can see and where at national wildlife refuges.
And old black and white photo of a ship and Blackbeard wharf.
Wildlife Management
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Townsend, Georgia – The virus spread through cities large and small, overwhelming hospitals, shuttering businesses, and killing thousands. It originated, supposedly, overseas and quickly jumped from country to country. Not until the federal government imposed mandatory quarantines and jump-started...
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Visit Us

Surf fishing on Blackbeard Island NWR
Image Details
Surf fishing on Blackbeard Island NWR

National wildlife refuges offer us all a chance to unplug from the stresses of daily life and reconnect with our natural surroundings. Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge offers a variety of opportunities to explore and enjoy the great outdoors. You can play in the surf, observe and photograph wildlife, hike or bicycle miles of forest trails, fish or, during the season, hunt white-tailed deer. Open daily from sunrise to sunset, the barrier island refuge is accessible only by boat. Transportation is not provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, therefore visitors must use personal watercraft or a local charter service.

Location and Contact Information

      What We Do

      Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the National Wildlife Refuge System. It drives everything on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands and waters managed within the Refuge System, from the purposes for which a national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
      A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

      Learn more about national wildlife refuge       is established to the recreational activities offered to the resource management tools used. Using conservation best practices, the Refuge System manages Service lands and waters to help ensure the survival of native wildlife species.

      Our Species

      Wilson's plover with chicks
      Image Details

      Blackbeard Island NWR supports a wide diversity of wildlife, including about 240 species of breeding and wintering birds, at least 20 species of mammals, and an undetermined number of reptiles, amphibians, and fish.  The refuge is within the range of several listed threatened or endangered wildlife species.