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.

As a part of my continuing recovery from foot surgery, a group of us did the Nisqually Delta (National Wildlife Refuge) board walk hike. The hike we did was about 5.5 miles and did the longer board walk hike and most of the shorter loop. We saw a bald eagle, big skunk cabbage, tide flats river areas and had a nice walk in the sun. The day, Wednesday May 20th was warm making the walk on the boards fun and enjoyable. With the tide out there was not much wildlife on the tide flats we could see. Some ducks and geese about and an eagle sighting. We did not have binoculars which would have helped spotting wildlife (birds) but still nice to get out on a Spring day. Noted a picnic table area near the barns I was not aware of until we came back to the car. This is a nice shaded area to eat lunch. We had lunch on some benches at the beginning of the boardwalk, also a pleasant place to eat.

This is my first trip report I'm writing! We decided it was time for our first hike of the year and thought this one would be great for the whole family. We weren't disappointed! Trail is well maintained and great for even strollers and wheelchairs. The visitor center was easy to find right when we got there. It's a $3 fee for every 4 adults (age 16+) and kids 15 and under are free. There was plenty of parking. If you have little ones with you, we recommend asking the front desk person (or Ranger) about participating in their Junior Refuge Manager program. It's fun, informative, and the kids get a little certificate and Badge once they've completed it! We do this for our kids at all the National and State parks that have this program, and we find that most parks do. Walk all the way down the boardwalk and see different wildlife depending on the tides. We were lucky enough to catch glimpses of a few Bald Eagles and hawks. After we reached the end of the boardwalk, we headed back the way we came. There's a little grove in front of the Twin Barns with several picnic tables perfect for eating lunch! The Twin Barns housed several bird houses and there were TONS of birds flying overhead! My whole family had a wonderful time and we'll enjoy coming back here in the future!