Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

This place is AMAZING! Every time I drive thru, its a new adventure. It is beautiful year round but I think my favorite time of year to go is the winter. With less foliage, I tend to see so much more that time of year. This is a nearly free and really fun outing for the whole family.

I Love coming here! There is absolutely ALWAYS some sort of wonderous creature to see, peaceful note from nature to take in… stop in, pull up to the left to pay your park dues and enjoy! Something new every single time. ♥️

We had a great time spotting wildlife, including a beaver crossing the road, and learning our prius can handle a very rough road if you avoid the majority of the potholes. The road is going to be repaired after the winter and we are planning to go back in our SUV!

The road path south of the main park is a drive through only. No exiting of the car but passes through a approx 4 mile loop around flooded fields and ponds. You will see hundreds of water fowl and many raptors.

Very fun natural area to drive and see wildlife. In January we saw deer, mallards, Canadian geese, a few swans, and a couple large birds of prey that I couldn’t identify. We went about 5mph and it took us about 45 minutes with no stopping to do the loop.

Reminder me of Jurassic Park as we saw such a variety of dinosaur descendants (birds) and theair mammalian sucessors, nutria, fox, deer and a coyote! The road is one way and everyone travels very slow in their little hybrid cars kind of like the atvs in the movie. Unbelievable thousands of migrating and marsh nirds on all sides! We counted 22 species.... Enjoy

This is the southernmost portion of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. There's a parking lot here, and a building that is under construction (my guess is some kind of Visitor Center). There are trails around here as well, there are several and a river, which provides some awesome views of nature and wildlife. There is also a plankhouse if you take the trail all the way down to it, which is pretty cool to see. It's definitely worth a visit and to stop, it's an underrated place. One note: the gates closed automatically at 9pm, so make sure you're out by then so you don't get stuck in there.

Just minutes off of I-5, very nice wildlife refuge. Took the auto tour with a few stops at viewing platforms. The walking trail was closed when there- for nesting birds to raise their young in peace. Heard a lot of birds, saw many as well, including a pair of cranes. The site itself is very well maintained, gravel road in good shape, paths to view birds clearly marked, clean rustic bathrooms. Gorgeous clear July day when visited. Will absolutely go again, looking forward to seeing the bird populations shift during different seasons.