arthur r. marshall loxahatchee national wildlife refuge

We have been coming to Loxahatchee for several years now, and this year finally bought a yearly membership. Our kids love coming here and walking through the nature center - though we do wish there were more hands-on opportunities, seeing as how this is a national park. That being said, there is a good amount of educational material here for the kids and they've always enjoyed it.Also, every time we've gone to walk the trails we've seen tons of wildlife. Every time we've gone we've seen at least 1 alligator, numerous birds, snakes, raccoon, turtles, fish, etc. Our advice is to go during the "rainy" season - you can definitely tell a difference in the wildlife. During the dry winter when the water dries up there are far fewer birds and other animals around. Summer time is the best for critter-watching, in our experience.We haven't tried the kayaking or fishing yet, but have heard good things about both. We expect to try them in the next year or so.

This area is great for photography and viewing wildlife. You can get all the information you need at the Visitor's Center and then walk or drive around the area. If you go to the shore line you might be able to see a very large alligator, named George.

This is a lovely spot to relax and view nature. THe attraction has no fee to pay but you will be rewarded with views of birds, iguanas turtles , large and small fish, alligators and maybe a pythonthat really needs to be controlled. You can walk around the area in a large loop taking maybe 1 1/2 hours or do a more leisurely pace around. The river view is gorgeous and there are many hiking trainls here as well. I like it as a good place to get away from everyone. I do not recommend this place in the summer when t gets very warm and moist.

I have been coming here since I was a teenager and it is one of my favorite places in the area. Very cool place to snap some pictures and take in the wide variety of wildlife!

I go there to fish, canoe and hike the many trails, both through the marshes but along the dike nex to the Loxahatchee river.

Fun place to walk around and see the wildlife for free. Birds galore, fish, turtles, huge iguanas and of course alligators. Takes about an hour and a half to do the loop and it beats paying for a zoo. Great for people of all ages.

We stopped here during a visit to the area and enjoyed walking around in nature. Saw a few alligators too. Tons of birds. Could have stayed longer, but the sun was kind of strong so we cut the visit short. Well worth a visit, especially with kids.

The display in the entrance was fascinating to our grandson. He loved trying to answer the questions posed in each area, then flipping the lid to find the correct answer. Also loved the night sounds area: you walk into a room-sized area and the lights dim. You see shadow figures and hear the voices of a boy and his grandfather, then the sounds of night animals. Each animal lights up as Grandfather tells about it. We did it 2 or 3 times. Some of the other displays were too advanced for this child, but looked interesting.Also , the boardwalk over the swamp was fun. We did not spot any alligators, but a helpful naturalist directed us down the road a bit - in our car- to a spot where a 6-footer was sunning on the side of the road. Fun trip!

Saw some birds and lots of grass. Also had to paddle through lily fields. Be ready for a 5.5 mile paddle or turn around before half way.

This place in some respects is similar to Green Cay, however the wildlife is so much more abundant. Just watching the wildlife is in itself very calming and relaxing. Good way to spend some leisure time. Parking is limited and sometimes you have to wait for a spot to open up.

"Loxahatchee," as most locals call it, is off the beaten path. It's just off SR 7, which is well west of the beaches... and most of the tourists, too. A boardwalk from the visitor center takes you on a short loop through a cypress swamp. Across the main refuge road, a series of "impoundments" - ponds surrounded by levees - offer wildlife habitat that's easily viewed from the levee trails. The refuge also has a boat ramp. Canoeing and kayaking are fairly popular here.Wildlife isn't as concentrated as at man-made wetlands such as Wakodahatchee, but there's more variety to spot (if your timing is right). White-tailed deer are present, along with smaller animals. We see red-shouldered hawks on almost every visit, and snail kites fairly regularly. We've also spotted red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers here. Of course, there's the usual array of Florida wading birds, etc.

There are many rangers on hand to help out, whether with a ride or tips or talks. I loved the trails, the water kayaking and the guides made all the difference. Very scenic. When I started to leave, my car wouldn't start so guides gave me gas. Gave it to me and wouldn't accept payment. They were extremely knowledgeable about both flora and fauna as well as water activities and animals. A very good time; I go often and am always pleased.

I had never heard of this FREE annual event before, but we went yesterday, 2/14/15, and it was wonderful. Thank you so much to the organizers and sponsors. It was full of interesting programs, things to look at, buy, eat, comfortable beautiful buses for transport to various stations, and an all around terrific celebration of the 'Glades. Plan to go next February, and before that enjoy everything at greater leisure.

This is a neat spot, especially considering its not far from the urban centers of Boynton beach/delray beach. We took our canoe out and went fishing which was quite productive. However, this place is crawling with gators. Heaven help you if you capsize your canoe or kayak. They normally don't worry me at all but this place was just infested. I couldn't believe it. The second we dropped our canoe in at the ramp they swarmed us. These creatures are cool and all - but they are prehistoric and operate only with on/off switch with one thought in their heads - "I want to eat that". Lots of birds, wildlife, good fishing - but like I said - DON'T capsize your canoe or you could end up gator bait.

We got to the site early, and stopped first at the visitor center. This was good because staff was helpful and it enabled us planned our visit. We next went to the canoe trail base station and rented a 2 person kayak for the 5.4 mile loop circuit through the Everglades. Less than a mile in, we saw a log about 20 feet in front of us. As we got closer, we saw the log had two eye sockets at the far end! We slowed the kayak down, said to each other "now what do we do?" and waited for it to submerge. When it did with bubbles we proceeded cautiously and paddled forward without incident. I estimate that it was about an 8 foot gator. After all this is the Everglades! We saw one more 4 foot gator sunning themself and a big cooter turtle. The halfway rest raft was a welcome rest stop allowing me to place my life jacket behind my seat back for proper support and adjusting my foot rests to the proper length. The trail which varies between 10 to 20 feet in width (mostly about 15 feet) was interesting to travel through, however it is becoming overgrown with water lilies which grab at your paddles and make the effort more taxing. Consider you level of fitness because it took us 3 plus hours to complete the 5.4 circle. At the end of the circuit our host told us a canoe was bumped by a gator a few days earlier - yikes.We next went to the marsh walk and viewed birds and turtles. We concluded our visit on the short cypress board walk and taking pictures.My take away is, this is how it was in the area before we moved in. For the canoe trail, if you're a risk taker it is well worth the time to see. Bill B. Oakton, VA.