Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge
Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge
179 Key Deer Blvd
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
Phone:305-872-2239
Fax:305-872-2154
Web: southeast.fws.gov/greatwhiteheron
Established: 1938.
Location:Islands on the north side of the lower Florida Keys between Marathon and Key West.
Facilities:Visitor contact station (on Big Pine Key).
Activities:Boating, canoeing, fishing.
Special Features:Refuge consists of a 300-square-mile area of water and unpopulated islands. No raccoons live on the islands, thus providing a safe nesting, roosting, wading, and resting habitat critical for more than 250 bird species.
Habitats: 6,207 acres of mangrove islands and wetlands, with some sandy beaches and dunes. An additional 123,900 acres of marine waters are managed but not owned by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Access: By boat only; access to islands is restricted.
Wild life: Great white heron and other wading birds, sea turtles.
See other parks in Florida.