Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

A Gulf Coast wildlife refuge where you drive a 16-mile tour loop and climb observation towers to look for whooping cranes and alligators.

1 Wildlife Circle · Austwell, TX

About Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 and covers more than 115,000 acres of Texas coastal grassland, oak thicket and marsh. It is the wintering home of the last wild flock of endangered whooping cranes. From the visitor center you can follow a paved 16-mile auto tour loop past an observation tower, walk short trails, or fish from the pier. Keep watch for roseate spoonbills, herons, alligators and collared peccaries.

#wildlife refuge
#whooping cranes
#birdwatching
#auto tour
#gulf coast

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor Adventure
Goose Island State Park
Under $25
Camp under live oaks on the Texas coast, fish from a 1,620-foot pier and visit the Big Tree, a coastal live oak thought to be 1,000 years old.
17 mi awayMore like this
Sightseeing
Fulton Mansion State Historic Site
Under $25
An 1877 Second Empire mansion on the Texas coast, run as a state historic site with a self-guided tour and gardens.
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Museums
Texas Maritime Museum
No admission fee
A Rockport museum on Texas seafaring history, covering shipbuilding, shipwrecks, fishing, and coastal industry.
25 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Sightseeing
Discover Victoria Visitor Center
No admission fee
The Victoria, Texas, visitor center on North Main Street, run by the city's Convention & Visitors Bureau, with maps and brochures.
Transit: reachable by public transit
35 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Museums
The Nave Museum
No admission fee
An art museum in Victoria, Texas, known for landscape paintings by its namesake artist and for rotating contemporary exhibits.
36 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Shopping
Victoria Mall
Check prices
Enclosed shopping mall in Victoria, Texas, with retail stores, dining, and seasonal events.
Transit: reachable by public transit
40 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping