We walked the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge trails and elevated walkway early Tuesday afternoon. There is a $3.00 per carload (4 adults) fee and it's worth every penny. Note - the visitor center is only open Wednesday through Sunday. Separate restrooms are available even if the center is closed. Do also keep in mind this is a refuge area - so fido is not welcome even on a leash and there are no other traditional "park" type activities. The tide was a little less than half way between low and high so most of the mudflats were still exposed as the sea slowly flowed back in. A bunch of big Herons were out fishing in the shallows and some gulls out in the flats but there were more summer season birds in the Riparian Forest area. One of the Herons had brilliant white patches on the wings - never seen one like that - looks like juvenile coloring maybe? Heard, though did not see, a rather vocal raven calling from the forested area to the west across the water. Mileage is about 5mi if you include the Riparian Forest loop but it is all flat and easily walkable for most everybody. The elevated plank way out into the tide flats really is amazing - worth a stop even if you are not ordinarily interested in wildlife watching.

This is a great but completely flat walk. It can be done in jeans and slip on shoes given the right weather conditions. The wildlife was amazing though! Blue heron, harbor seals, bald eagle, garter snakes, frogs and toads, and many types of birds!

We arrived at 10:45 to an almost full parking lot which included 2 school buses. Our sightings were few, but we did get some exercise on this beautiful day. Two cedar waxwings, an eagle, a female hooded merganser with her grade school age children, a turtle, red-winged blackbirds, robins, and sparrows were the only sightings. There was a -2.4 tide when we were there which probably lessened our sighting even more! We were hoping to see the wood duck family, but they did not make an appearance! (:!

It was a slightly chilly walk and we definitely got rained on, but this is a nice medium distance walk with no elevation gain to speak over. We even got to see some bald eagles so I was glad that I checked out binoculars from the visitor center.

A flat boardwalk trail, great for families. Very quiet and not heavily trafficked during the week. There is a songbird section of the refuge that is incredible if you go at the right time. I went in the morning on a Wed and there were so many birds singing. You will also see a great mix of wildlife because it is where salt water meets fresh water - very unique. There is a great viewing area of a heavily used nesting pond near two very picturesque old barns in one location, and it's just beautiful. If you do the full loop I think it is about 5 miles, but you can make shorter hike combinations as well because there are 3 loops that intersect.