Shutdown Notice
Due to the lapse in federal appropriations, this website will not be updated until further notice. Where public access to refuge lands does not require the presence of a federal employee or contractor, activities on refuge lands will be allowed to continue on the same terms as before the appropriations lapse. Any entry onto Refuge System property during this period of federal government shutdown is at the visitor's sole risk. Please read this important updated message about the closure of National Wildlife Refuge System facilities during the shutdown, and refer to alerts posted on individual refuge websites for the status of visitor facilities and previously scheduled events that may still occur during the shutdown.

For more information, please visit the Department of Interior webpage at https://www.doi.gov/shutdown

Features

  • Belted kingfisher / L. Woodward, USFWS

    eBird Trail Tracker

    Find out what birds are being seen at the refuge, including the most recent sightings.

    eBird Trail Tracker

  • Swallow-tailed kite flying high

    Artful flyer

    The return of these striking beauties, the swallow-tailed kite, is celebrated each spring.

  • Baby bat

    Bats

    If you hate mosquitoes, you'll love our flying friends! Forty thousand Brazilian free-tailed bats live in the Refuge's giant bat house.

  • Fluorescent pink sunrise behind pines

    Forestry on the Refuge

    Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge was carved out of a pine plantation made of row upon row of non-native pines.

  • Prescribed fire sign posted

    Prescribed Fire

    The Refuge uses rotations of planned strategic fires to replenish the land.

Y'all Stop In!

Hunting Permits

White-tailed deer buck

Information on how to purchase a permit online and to view the Lower Suawanee NWR hunting regulations . . .

Hunting Regulations

Drop in and Visit Us

Observation deck at pond

If it's your first visit, stop by the office for a warm welcome, maps, paddling information,and coloring books for the kids. A view of the historic Suwannee River is just 1/4 mile away on the River Trail.

Plan Your Visit

Refuge Bat House

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The Refuge has a bat house at 16450 NW 31st Place, Chiefland, Florida 32626. It is directly on the dogleg of the Refuge’s entrance drive. The best viewing times for bats are after sunset just as it starts getting too dark to see. You can park in front of the fence and watch them pour out. You might also see a resident hawk sitting nearby waiting for a meal or a snake curled around the support pillars. Enjoy the sights and as always do not handle, roll around in, or consume the guano beneath the bat house."

Let Us Know What Birds You Are Seeing!

On-line eBird Trail Tracker

Little grebe juvenile / L. Woodward, USFWS

Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird Trail Tracker is a real-time, online checklist program that has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. A birder simply enters when, where, and how they went birding, then fills out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. The observations of each participant join those of others in an international network of eBird users. The link below allows you to set-up an account in eBird to submit your observations. The Refuge appreciates you entering your bird sightings on the eBird online checklist program. For more information about eBird go to: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/

eBird On-line Program to Submit Observations

About the Complex

North Florida Refuges Complex

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge is managed as part of the North Florida Refuges Complex.

Read more about the complex
About the NWRS

National Wildlife Refuge System

NWRS Logo

The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants.

Learn more about the NWRS
Follow NWRS Online