merritt island national wildlife refuge

We have been here a number of times, and love it. The Visitors Center has a lot of good information about what you can see, and also the history of the area. But don't forget your binoculars and bird book! This area is a mecca for winter migrating birds, and they look glorious in these beautiful wetland surroundings. DON'T be tempted to approach a crocodile to photograph it. They can move incredibly fast .

We have been here twice now and enjoyed both trips. If you want to see manatee, go to the Manatee overlook at the Haulover Canal Bridge. We found ~10 on each of our trips. If you want to find gators or do some bird watching, head over to the Black Point Wildlife Drive. We're not birders, but we did see a good assortment to include flamingos. If you drive slow and pay attention you can find gators. We spotted 5 of various sizes...largest being about 8' long. Most were tucked along the far banks some can be easily overlooked....I watched cars ahead of us pass a couple of gators hidden under tree overhangs.It makes for fun couple of hours with the family searching out wildlife.

I read reviews before we headed to Florida to visit with family and decided to take a tour on a nice sunny day, I was not disappointed! At first we did not see any gators but a large variety of beautiful birds...so enjoyable to watch! On the way out of the park we did see two young gators sunning themselves which was very special as my daughter had never seen gators before. The about 10 minutes later after exiting the park we came upon a 7ft gator..this was incredible.

If you are reading these reviews you know what Merritt Island refuge is. This review is strictly about one drive called BioLab Road within the refuge. This road section is open along a canal with wetlands on the other. The road has some "POT Holes" on the drive but the speed limit is 15 so you need to drive slowly anyway. If you drive slowly and keep those binoculars up you will see many different varieties of birds. This year 2015; because of the plentiful rain, different varieties of birds not found in other locations of Florida are plentiful here because the height of the water is what they need for feeding. . Roseate Spoonbill, White pelicans to name a few. Just yesterday we saw over 75 spoonbill and over 100 white pelicans. They seem to be in-force where you can see them if you drive this road. Take your time the refuge is truely a wonderful place to see wildlife. The wildlife refuge visitor center has bathrooms and is open between 9-4 pm.

The visitor center offers a 3 hour guided birding trip for $5/person. Well worth the money to see the birds. Also includes a lot of local history.

Stop at the visitor center to get info so you can figure out a plan. This is the second time we've taken the Black Point Wildlife drive ($5.00). Very enjoyable and lots of nature to see. There are a few places to park along the wildlife drive to stop and go hiking. We only did a short hike as we ran out of time. We were fortunate enough to spot two Roseate Spoonbills flying overhead. That made my day although I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of them. I can't wait to go back when we have more time and see more of the birds, etc. in their natural habitat.

My wife and I really enjoyed this experienceWe had a great time just relaxing and taking in the beautiful views.Highly recommend this to people who enjoy the natural wildlife.Brian

If you want to see concentrations and varieties of birds, visit! Species and numbers will vary based on time of day and month you visit but it's always worth a trip. The one-way drive is easy and offers opportunities to stop and view and photograph. Watch canals for gators!

Staying in Titusville this is the most famous attraction other than the space center. We drive over the bridge and immediately felt we were in primeval Florida. The roads are lined by swamps, marshes and palmetto stands. Arriving at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge visitor center provided an amazing amount of information about the drive there and the surrounding area. The center is very family friendly with stations where children can learn and have fun at the same time. The rangers are extremely knowledgeable and helpful in any way they can. The cost is reasonable, although as seniors we have a lifetime pass ($10 over 62). The wooden walkways around the center are user friendly and accessible. The birding opportunities are astounding. There are several trail walks of varying lengths within the refuge, each one different and worth the time. We really enjoyed our time in the refuge, I took over a hundred pictures in a day.(Unable to upload any pictures, three tries.)

I can't wait to come back to this place. Definitely visit the visitors center and get a map and tips from the naturalists. They have an excellent selection of guidebooks and other items for purchase in the small shop and a few small exhibits. There is a lovely boardwalk trail behind the center and an Osprey's nest with a birding scope to see it from the Visitors Center. The Black Point Wildlife drive is not to be missed. You drive the trail, but can pull over anywhere and there are many walking trails to stop and go further if you want to. There is a fee for the drive which you can pay either at the Visitors Center or at the beginning of the drive on a box honor system. We were overwhelmed by the number of beautiful birds. Also we did the Scrub Ridge Trail in order to see the beautiful and very local Florida Scrub Jay. It's easy and only a mile. You might also see warblers on that trail. We would have liked to make it down to the Canaveral National Seashore beaches - next time. There is apparently a manatee viewing platform there. Bring your lunch or snacks and water, it's pretty far from anything once you are over the causeway and in the refuge and there is no food of any kind available to buy anywhere in the refuge. (other than a few sodas at the visitor center).

This refuge has many endangered species and has some nice walks and drives. It has a nice welcome center to get oriented and a nice drive to spot local and migrating birds. There are beautiful views of the lagoon and you may see an alligator or two.

Our late February visit, on a windy, rainy, cold day was filled with bird sightings! This was an excellent activity for a day of crumby weather because hundreds of birds can be seen from your car! Bring your kids, give them a pair of binoculars, and watch the excitement when they see up-close, super cool, native and migratory birds of FL. We hit up the Visitors Center first for birding tips, trail maps and paid the $5 to get onto Black Point Dr. and Playa Linda Beach. Our self-guided tour for the day worked well...Visitors Center (for birding tips, trail maps,paying the $5 park fee) 7 mile Black Point Drive, out to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore Playa Linda Beach(bathrooms & a picnic lunch), and returned via BioLab Road ( where the Roseate Spoonbills were hanging out). Be sure to pick up the free brochures of about Black Point Dr. just as you turn onto the road. My favorite moments...6 Painted Buntings at the Center birdfeeders, and a large flock of fishing White Pelicans. Bring your own food & drink and you get all this for $5 bucks!

We visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a chilly, rainy day in late February, and we were pleasantly surprised by how much wildlife we saw despite the weather. We saw a few armadillos, a turtle, and unfortunately only one small alligator (it obviously wasn't the right weather for alligators to be active), but the main thing was the countless birds! We slowly drove both the Black Point Wildlife Drive and Biolab Road, checked out Haulover Canal, and also Playalinda Beach, part of Canaveral National Seashore, which can be accessed from the refuge. We saw hundreds and hundreds of birds of every kind, from dozens of different species. It was incredible. The birds we saw on Black Point and Biolab differed a bit, so I recommend exploring beyond just the popular Black Point if you want to see the most variety. Haulover Canal has a nice manatee observation deck that they apparently frequent during warmer times of the year, but the water was too cold to see them on our visit. Instead, we watched brown pelicans diving, and cormorants being carried by the fast current. The weather was terrible for the beach, so our time there wasn't long, but I can easily imagine how gorgeous it must be on a nicer day. It's just miles and miles of beautiful undeveloped shoreline extending as far as the eye can see. No matter where you are in the refuge, keep your eyes peeled for wildlife. Some of the neatest things we saw were in places we didn't expect to see much of anything!The refuge has a small visitor center and gift shop. They will loan you binoculars for free at the center, which I definitely recommend taking advantage of if you don't have your own, since a lot of the wildlife you see will be a good distance away from you. A few minor things in the visitor center seemed to be broken or missing, and I feel a lot more could be done with the center in general. Still, a stop at the visitor center is a must to pick up a map and a few pamphlets, which you will need to get the most out of your visit. The short boardwalk trail near the center is also worth checking out. Many of the roads on the refuge are very narrow, but passing is possible if one person pulls over as far as they can. Trails and observation platforms are scattered throughout the refuge if you want to get out your car and walk. There are a few restrooms located at the refuge, including flush toilets at the visitor center, and tolerably clean chemical toilets on Black Point Wildlife Drive and at the beach. If driving or walking around looking at the flora and fauna of Florida sounds like fun to you, this is a wonderful place to do it! We drove about an hour and a half to get here, and felt that it was well worth it. We spent more than 6 hours looking around, and still didn't come close to seeing everything the refuge has to offer. We are already making plans to return here on a better day. If we saw this much on such a rainy cold day, I can't imagine what we'll see when it's a little nicer.

The reserve offers a guided three hour tour in their shuttle bus. One of their goals is to teach participants how to identify a variety of bird species. It was perfect for us beginning birders! At a cost of $5 per person, this is a tremendous bargain. The entrance cost to the Reserve is $5/person! Both our van driver and guide were amazingly knowledgeable and personable. We board the van and head down Black Point Wildlife Drive. This one-way dirt road provides us with wonderful views of the brackish marsh and the salt-loving Black Needle Rush and Mangroves emerging everywhere.At one point, our guide shows us a spot where all three kinds of Mangrove are present – Red, Black and White. I will not bore you with the details of the differences, but it is fascinating how these plants deal with drinking salty water without dying and how they dispose of the salt.Later, on our own, we explored a narrow dirt road called Biolab Drive which traverses a thin spit of land between Mosquito Lagoon and deep swamps and fishing holes. Unfortunately, this is not a one way road and our truck encounters oncoming traffic on many occasions causing us to navigate near the edge of canals.Finally, we maneuver ourselves down a back road into a little known and infrequently traveled Impoundment area where attain a view of the recently burned marshland. Almost immediately, we sight scores of birds feeding at the spots laid bare by the scorching. In the distance you can see the enormous NASA Vehicle Assembly Building and nearby launch structure. The road is closed to through traffic as we reach the shores of Indian River. Over the course of a week, we visited the area 3 times and spent almost two days exploring all of Merritt.

We visited this excellent wetland site twice in February 2015. We drove the Black Point Wildlife Drive, twice. The cost is a modest $5.00 per vehicle. The wetland bird populations were excellent, with tens of thousands of birds of many species. This is a highly ranked birding site. The days I was there we had a traffic jam of birders, most of them senior citizens. It was great to see such a large number of nature lovers. I took many 1080 photos. This is a must-see birding site in central Florida.