The Cape May National Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place to visit. You can walk the trails (most are easy walking) and partake in bird watching activities. On side you can visit the indoor nature center and shop for souvenirs and gifts. The refuge is FREE to visit and family-friendly.
Cape May National Wildlife Refuge is located on Ocean Avenue in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. It's at the southern end of the Wildwood island...before you cross the bridge to head into Cape May. Very easy to get to when visiting the Stone Harbor, Wildwood, Rio Grande and Cape May areas. It was established as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1989.
You'll want to start your visit at the Welcome Center where you'll find free parking. Inside the center you can ask questions, partake in any educational programs they're hosting, do a little shopping and obtain a map of the trails. You can also grab a map at the entrace walkways to several of the different trails. The map shows their route and length.
We walked up the trail at the 2 Mile Beach Unit. It's a wood boardwalk with a wood railing. You can get a wheelchair or walker up that trail with assistance. At the end of that trail you'll find an area that you can see the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. From May through the end of September that beach is closed to help the migrating and nesting birds.
One thing to note is that there aren't any benches to sit on and no shade on this particular trail. On a blazing hot and humid day...you'll want to walk it early in the morning or later in the evening. It's a short trail...only took us 15 minutes to walk out and back. Nothing that takes hours and it's an easy walk.
Next...we got into our car and drove down to the next parking lot where you'll find the entrance to the Marsh Trail. This trail has a wood boardwalk but no railing. It's very shaded with trees, bushes and shrubs lining both sides of the trail. You can easily get a wheelchair down this trail too.
There's information boards at the entrance to the trail giving you info about the Marsh Trail, it's length and the inhabitants (animals) you may see along the way. They're worth the read if you're not in a hurry.
It took us 7-10 minutes to walk the Marsh Trail until we reached the observation blind. It has seating, so you can sit down and look out over the marsh. We saw several different type's of shore birds while sitting there, so bring along your binoculars if you have them. There's a chart hanging inside the little observation blind listing some of the birds that you'll find in the area. After sitting there for 15-20 minutes (it's relaxing) we headed back to our car.
A few things that I recommend when visiting: Wear sunscreen, spray yourselves with bug spray (they can be nasty near the water) and bring along a bottle of water. You should wear comfortable walking shoes and dress appropriately for the current weather conditions. Bring along binoculars and your camera!
We enjoyed visiting the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge in Wildwood Crest. We visited on a cloudy (but not rainy) day. It gave us something FREE to do and was educational at the same time. It's always nice to learn more about nature and wildlife conservation.
No comments:
Post a Comment