Great place to visit and walk around. Highly recommend to go mornings or evenings cause it gets hot. Hardly any shade so bring an umbrella/hats/sunglasses if you can't stand the heat, definitely no heavy clothes you will sweat and bring comfortable shoes as well a lot of gravel. The walk and the self car tour took us about 2hr and 30 min to explore. Bathrooms are a nasty but open and bring water too. There's 3 trails for walking. read more

Merced National Wildlife Refuge - Parks Near Me - Merced, California

Bring your binoculars. Amazing birds. Very few people, even on a Saturday. The auto trail is well worth it and only one way. Saw many many sandhill cranes. Don't use the bathroom. It is gross. read more

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This amazing place is the safari park of birds! Would you believe if I tell you all the photos were taken from inside the car:)) There's a 5 miles auto tour route (one way, it's a loop). You can park anytime you want, stop as long as you like, observing the birds from camera or binocular or just simply enjoy the wildlife from inside the car at your leisure. Some part of the route are bit narrow for other cars to pass but It wasn't busy at all, the total number of cars I saw on the day I went probably around 5. It won't be an issue if you have to wait a while for other cars to move. I believe the purpose of auto route is for people to stay in their car with minimal disturbance of the wildlife. And because of that, most birds were not afraid of cars approaching that allow you to observe them in a very close range:) There are 2 Photography blind spots that allow max 2 people at a time in a covered area to watch birds closely but it's getting late and I was heavily attacked by mosquitoes and the situation got even worse around sunset. Had to retreat to safety after had like 10+ mosquito bites:p If you love bird watching, this is like Disneyland for birdwatch just don't forget big repellent!!! read more

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Had high expectations to see the birds fly off in the winter time at sunset and it was pretty nice. They do have a nice auto route, and room for people to move to the side if you need to get through. 2 lookout points at each end, along with restrooms there. Plenty of parking and was not too busy the day I went to see snow geese and other birds. read more

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Even if you are not an avid bird watcher, you will enjoy the live shows of hundreds of snow geese flying above your head in the winter months. It's my second time coming here , both times I had moments of being blown away by the magnificent shows the birds had put on for us. Hundreds of snow geese taking off and flying above us , we saw a red tailed hawk perched on the sign post so close from us , an horned owl taking off 100 feet from us , a red tail hawk feasting on a bloody gutted fish on a tree ... I immensely enjoyed this place. And it's free. Plenty of parking, a five mile auto trail , several hiking trails and some observation decks. read more

Merced National Wildlife Refuge - Parks Near Me - Merced, California

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Been here to see amazing birds and other wildlife. They have an auto route. We planned on coming with another friend on indigenous people's day. My wife called to be sure they would be open. She was told that the visitor center at nearby San Luis would be closed but that Merced would be open. Our friend drove an hour to our home. Then we drove 2.5 hours to find a locked gate. Of course we tried calling but since it was a holiday no staff answered. We specifically came to see the amazing Sandhill cranes. We gave up and drove the 1/2 hour to San Luis where there were some cranes. Big disappointment. read more

Price: Free. Hours: Daylight. The best time to come to this refuge is in winter when birds migrate to this park. There are some short trails and two observation decks. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND bringing some nice binoculars (200-300$). You will still love seeing the birds, but the binoculars give you a better view. In December we saw a Golden Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a group of pelicans, and thousands of duck and geese. Driving the auto route in the winter will let you see thousands of waterfowl and binoculars will let you see the few rare birds. Seeing a Bald Eagle take off in flight and seeing thousands of geese fly away from it....awesome! read more

Merced National Wildlife Refuge - Waterfowl - Parks Near Me - Merced, California

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Very peaceful and beautiful! See birds in their natural habitat! Its a auto tour only tho and it's 5.something miles long. Can easily spend 1 hour or 2 if you like outside life. There are a lot of mosquitos, my girl and I stepped out for 5 minutes and both got bite twice. read more

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This wildlife refuge is what many would see as 10,000 acres of weeds. I saw it as a balm to my soul. I visited on a July morning and found the place beautiful. There's a 5mile gravel road as well as several hikes you can take in the area. As my health has been questionable of late and I was the only human out there, I decided to stick with the gravel road. I let my car idle and crept through the place, pausing where I wanted to. There are some places along the road where they've built a platform where you can walk out and be above the plain. I found the views breathtaking. I saw more tules than I've even seen in my life as it's been a really good water year. This place is what I can imagine the San Joaquin Valley to have been before too many humans moved in and we irrigated it into the bread-basket it now is. I had the pleasure of seeing egrets, hawks, and a multitude of songbirds. I could hear the owls, though I didn't see them, and a dove came and perched not 10 feet from me shortly after I got there. I know there are Tule Elk there but I didn't get to see any. It was obvious they'd been there though. I could see where they had slept and their paths by the patterns in the plants. I suspect I would have seen them if I'd been there when the gates opened in the morning. I was able to see tons of butterflies, moths, and dragonflies, cottontails, a fox, two jackrabbits (I hadn't seen a jackrabbit in decades!), and what I suspect was a vole. It moved pretty fast. If you would like a place to watch and listen to nature I would highly recommend this. To my eyes it was absolutely beautiful. read more

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Merced National Wildlife Refuge is a great place for viewing and photographing wildlife and especially many different species of birds. read more

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Anytime it says national anything I have to check it out. The Merced National Wildlife Refuge is wonderful. It has a five mile loop you can drive. several walking trails, a couple observation decks, and a photographic blind. I saw lots of rabbits squirrels Hawks and more birds and I can name. Sitting in the forest as you come in or at least the grove of trees, turn the car off and be patient. There bird sounds everywhere. After awhile you start spotting them. It's just a fun trip. Can't wait till I drive through again read more

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Very beautiful you can go there every day of good weather very clean place with beautiful animals and birds highly recommend

Really neat place, lots of birds and animals. Highly recommended if that's your thing.