aransas national wildlife refuge

Visited last year and this. Many of trails and board walks were closed and requiring repair last year. And again this year. Very sad there were about 20 park vehicles sitting and not a soul around. They should repair their park or we should complain until they change management.

We spent an entire afternoon in the refuge! We saw all sorts of birds, Javelinas, deer, alligators and enjoyed the natural surroundings and the view onto the water. When you go, please don't drive fast, blast the music, or talk loud or make other loud sounds. Like that you can enjoy more of the refuge and the animals will be safer! Enjoy it!

We have been here many times. Every time we come, we see something new. This time it was a Long-billed Curlew. The visitors' center is nice. The staff is very helpful. The observation tower is awesome! They are constantly improving and upgrading the facilities. Keep your eyes open! No telling WHAT you might see.

Want to see some wild animals in their natural setting! A few hours spent at Aransas NWR will make your day! See alligators and all kinds of gorgeous shore birds. The roseate spoonbills are the most beautiful shade of pink! AND you can see the endangered whooping cranes here- catch this view before they are all gone! Or better yet, take part in some learning time at the Visitor Center to discover how you can help save all endangered species. Tun off the electronic devices and take your children into NATURE!!!!

As home to the whooping crane, this NWR is iconic and worth the drive around with stops at various trails, towers and overlooks. We drove down from Austin on a dreary day and arrived mid-afternoon so poor lighting. Nevertheless, we saw a pair of cranes along with many of the expected duck and water bird species that are resident this time of year. With better light and better timing, Im sure we would have seen lots more.

Wow! It seems like there isn't much going on at first, but take some time, and you'll see lots of wildlife. The alligator heads just a few yards away on either side of one trail, the little frogs and huge spiders on another, the snakes on another, the egrets, great blue herons, white and brown pelicans on another, and the pair of magnificent whooping cranes seen from one of the the roads.The visitor center is really great too (usually closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Laura, Katelyn and Anneka are incredibly welcoming and helpful. They have all the latest information to add to the family-oriented displays which tell you lots about what you'll be seeing. They even lend you all the wildlife guide books you'll need to identify the unexpected, too. Don't forget to return them though, or you'll go without your license! We saw deer popping up all around as we drove on the loop. We didn't see any of the wild hybrid hogs, but we did see the muddy mess they make in quite a few places. They are definitely a destructive invasive species, so good luck to the hog hunters!Allow plenty of time. The trails are mostly quite short, but it takes a while to drive there to begin with, and you need to be able to drive around to get to all the trails. This Refuge is superb value, and well worth repeated visits.

This place is WAY out from the main road of 35. Not a whole lot there but does have some pretty views. Last time we came here (2010) we saw some Javelinas, an Armadillo, and some deer. This time we saw some Alligators and some deer. They do now have a huge, above the trees, observation platform that is wheelchair accessible, which is nice. You can get some great views from up there of the bay and the tops of the trees. This time we took the auto tour, which just amounted to a long drive with not much scenery, except for trees and scrub-grass. No wildlife was seen.At least two of the trails were closed and we weren't told that before getting out to go to them.Doubt we will go back, although did enjoy seeing the alligators. Would be nice place for a picnic or bird sightings.

Well, we started off in the visitor center. It was nice, but we were disappointed to find out the gift store was closed. Then we went acroos the street to check out the alligator veiwing area. It was quite overgrown,couldn't really see anything. We went to the next stopping point and found a really nice trail. We went hiking for a little bit, and spotted a huge alligator suninng itself on the opposite bank,along with two other ones. They were quite impressive. We kept on hiking,but then our hike was cut short by another huge alligator that was stretched out across the hiking trail. Oh well! We then went on to the observation tower;it was really nice. We didn't have time to drive the auto loop, but on our way out we saw quite a few deer. One of them was a buck, so that was exciting. He crossed the street right in front of us. You absolutely need bug spray!! I really like the wildlife refuge;if we lived closer I'm sure I would be spending a lot of thime there.

The refuge has a variety of trails and a self-drive tour, which stops by an observation tower for some nice views of the landscape and wildlife.It's somewhere to go for at least half a day if you're in the vicinity and you can afford to put the time in to do the trails. Not recommended if you're passing by and only intend on doing the auto tour as there was little wildlife to be seen. The drive itself while relaxing was also not particularly scenic.Also make sure to go at the right time if you want to see certain migratory birds.

After going to visitor center, we got out of car to do our first walking trail didn't get far before being bitten. So we took the auto tour loop which is great but go very slow, something at every turn. We did get out at the observation tower, it was full of black vultures. Driving further an alligator sunning itself in the middle of the road. Saw over 30 deer and 12 wild turkeys.

If you go, make sure you have a plenty of gas. It is out in the middle of nowhere. Park is very representative of Texas. I have been there almost every year for the last fifteen years. Tons of deer, wild pigs. They have havelinas, turkeys, alligators, whooping cranes, egrets, bobcats and tons more. Very relaxing to drive around and stop at different stations to view wildlife. Don't forget to take plenty of mosquito repellant; it is the outdoors after all. Keep arfie on a leash, alligators will eat him. Beautiful park in a beautiful state!

We knew this was the wrong time of year to see most of the birds, but this was a well kept refuge park. Visitor center was closed during the weekday before Memorial day, but we could self pay and brochures were available, and we pretty much had the refuge to ourselves. We saw multiple family's of the Javelina's along the marsh area to our surprise. The stairway to the tower could accommodate a wheel chair. (I was impressed). I would recommend this drive to anyone.

We arrived at around 6:00pm and the office had closed at 4:30pm. It would have been nice to go inside to take a little tour but did put our $3.00 in the drop box for our drive through. We saw deer and 3 with fawns, a raccoon, an armadillo, 2 - centipedes - 1 8" & another 5" which I added photos and a family of wild boars. The cardinals are plentiful and saw some blue herons that were beautiful! 1/2 way through the drive there are restrooms (outhouses) and were stinky but did the job. We couldn't make the walk down the path to the bay where the birds are everywhere but it's a good walk. We chose not to with my elderly mother. We brought the binoculars and so glad we did for better looks at animals that were to far for a good look and to see those baby fawns up close. It was such a wonderful time and all enjoyed it so much. We pulled out to see so many deer and last years fawns kicking up their heels on both sides of the road. Our exit was at about 7:45 but we took our time and it was a bonus from our ride home from Rockport. Would highly recommend it! This was the perfect time of year and the perfect time of day....the wildlife was such a joy.

My husband and I enjoyed our visit to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. We saw 9 alligators and lots of birds. We saw the alligators on the first two trails near the refuge entrance.The visitor's center was closed on the Wednesday we arrived. Outside the visitor's center, we self paid our $5 for the car load. There is a fairly long road through the refuse. We did not see much wildlife just driving through but we saw plenty on the trails and boardwalks. We did not see any Whooping Cranes on this trip but we saw two in December (a year ago). There is one very high viewing platform area in the park. Do not miss that. We had lunch in a picnic area next to the bay. This is a great place to visit.

Been here multiple times. Each time we see different things - timing is everything and each time you visit will be different. Alligators - yep, wild pigs -yep, deer - yep, birds of too many species to list - yep, whoopers - too distant to tell.The staff here is 1/3 the size it was just a few years ago from budget cuts. The remaining staff does a remarkable job and deserve everyone's thanks and appreciation.