Birdwatching Hot Spots
Although Wisconsin's Horicon National Wildlife Refuge and the adjacent Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area are best known for their more than one million migrating Canada geese during autumn, the preserves' combined 32,000 acres also shelter some 260 other types of birds. On the 36-mile drive around the perimeter, you might see sandhill cranes, tundra swans and white pelicans, which share this domain with foxes, beavers and muskrats. You can get close-up glimpses of birds and wildlife by hiking the five miles of trails or bicycling the 34-mile Wild Goose Trail that skirts the marsh.
Along fringes of the area, visitors stay in the small communities of Horicon, Mayville and Waupun. Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (920/387-2658); Horicon Chamber of Commerce (920/485-3200); Waupun Area Chamber of Commerce (920/324-3491); Mayville Area Chamber of Commerce (800/256-7670).
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Waupun Area Chamber of Commerce >>
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Some 400,000 waterfowl, including flocks of snow geese, migrating mallards and bald eagles, stop every fall at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge on the Missouri River floodplain (90 miles northwest of Kansas City). The feathered creatures flock into the marshes and pools and swoop down over the bluffs. Visitors can drive or bike the 10-mile road that winds through the refuge's 7,350 acres. The route passes six large pools often covered with snow geese at midday. Along three hiking trails (about two miles total), you can view birds, deer traipsing through the woods, and muskrats building their lodges of bulrushes and cattails. On scheduled weekends, volunteer interpreters at the visitors center lead nature programs.
You can stay in the historic Missouri River town of St. Joseph (35 miles southeast) or in little Mound City (four miles north). Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (660/442-3187); St. Joseph Convention & Visitors Bureau (800/785-0360).
Midwest Living Senior Travel Editor Linda Ryberg recommends Seney National Wildlife Refuge, a sanctuary in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula (85 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie). Some 200 varieties of birds and 45 kinds of animals, including deer and bears, make their homes in the refuge's 95,000 acres. Plan at least an hour to travel the seven-mile drive through the only part of the marshes, forests and fields accessible by car. Be sure to stop at the observation decks to view ducks, loons and other waterfowl.
Northland Outfitters in Germfask (two miles south of the refuge) rents canoes, kayaks and mountain bikes to explore Seney's backcountry. Big Cedar Campground in Germfask also rents canoes. Motel rooms are available in Germfask and other tiny towns nearby. Seney National Wildlife Refuge (906/586-9851); Upper Peninsula Travel & Recreation Assoc. (800/562-7134); Northland Outfitters (906/586-9801); Big Cedar Campground (906/586-6684).
Michigan's Upper Peninsula >>
Northland Outfitters >>
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