Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
Ilwaco, WA 98624
Phone:360-484-3482
Web: www.fws.gov/willapa/WillapaNWR
Established: 1937.
Location:On the shores of Willapa Bay near the Pacific Ocean in southwestern Washington.
Facilities:5 primitive boat campsites (on Long Island), trails, viewing sites.
Activities:Camping, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, hunting.
Special Features:Refuge features FWS's first interpretive art trail, celebrating habitat restoration of a stream that is now home to sea-run cutthroat trout, chum salmon, and many other species. The trail is a meandering boardwalk with a 22-foot bronze sculpture of a salmon skeleton, the first of several planned art pieces depicting nature's life cycle. The bay is one of the most pristine estuaries in the United States.
Habitats: More than 15,000 acres of salt marshes, tideflats, old-growth forest, coastal dunes and beaches.
Access: Daily from dawn to dusk.
Wild life: Wintering waterfowl, including black brant, trumpeter swans, Canada geese, and canvasback. Also provides habitat for black bear, deer, elk, and shorebirds.
See other parks in Washington.