This National Wildlife Refuge is visited by over 260 varieties of waterfowl every year.

Stretching like black ribbons across a rosy evening sky, thousands of ducks and Canada geese wing above rustling grasses at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (60 miles northwest of Milwaukee). As they glide down, their raucous quacks and honks speak of journeys south and the approaching winter.

Though best known for the hundreds of thousands of Canada geese that stop here each fall and spring, the combined 32,000 acres also shelter some 260 other types of waterfowl. On the 36-mile drive around Horicon's perimeter you might spot sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans and white pelicans. The birds share their domain with muskrats, foxes and beavers. You often can get close-up glimpses by hiking the five miles of trails or pedaling the 34-mile Wild Goose State Trail, which skirts the marsh.

Many visitors anchor in three small communities along Horicon's fringes. Board a pontoon boat in the town of Horicon just south of the marsh for a narrated tour amid the cattails. Or rent a canoe and explore on your own.

When you return to town, take a short drive west to Waldvogel's Farm Market for apples and fat pumpkins. Northwest of the refuge, shop for antiques along Waupun's main street. In tidy Mayville, the elegant 1897 Audubon Inn makes a perfect overnight and dinner stop. But be sure to turn in early, so you can head back to the preserves at dawn's first light.

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