We explored Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge March 25th, 2023 while on vacation in Texas.

We parked at the Visitor Center and walked to their Butterfly Garden.

The garden was home to many beautiful flowers and lots of bees. The buzzing sound from the bees was impressively loud. As much as I love bees for their hard work keeping us alive, part of me wanted to run away. The red Castilleja was so vibrant.

This Pink Evening Primrose had a little almost invisible spider hanging out on one of the petals. We also saw lots of Crawdad mounds.

We walked back to the car to begin the drive through the wildlife refuge.

Shoveler Pond Auto Loop and Boardwalk is a 2.64 mile road with places to stop and look at the wildlife. I could hardly contain my excitement when I looked to my left and saw a giant alligator. Being a Minnesotan, we don’t have wild and free roaming alligators, so this was a real treat.

A little further down the road, not even 10 feet from where I am sitting in the car I spot another alligator! As much as I wanted to pat his head, I decided against it.

The water was a brilliant blue as we looked for more wildlife. Turtles and alligators were everywhere!

Bird lovers unite. This is the spot come March. We saw lots of different winged creatures throughout our drive.

They have a wonderful and long boardwalk. Alligators, crabs, turtles, ducks, and many other creatures were so close to us.

Once back in the car, we continued on the loop. More alligators, turtles and a family of Spoonbills.

After we closed the loop, we decided to drive around again this time stopping to explore a trail.

An Ibis was seen lurking in the near distance.

The wooden lined trail was a bit above the ground. This made me feel a little better since I knew alligators, snakes and other potential deadly creatures were laying around close by.

I highly recommend visiting Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge if you are ever in southern Texas.