Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Chincoteague, VA 23336
Phone:757-336-6122
Fax:757-336-5273
Web: chinco.fws.gov
Established: 1943.
Location:On Assateague Island.
Facilities:Visitor center (é), viewing sites, trails (15 miles).
Activities:Surf fishing, clamming, crabbing, swimming (Memorial Day through Labor Day), boating, hiking, biking, hunting, interpretive programs.
Special Features:Descendants of colonial horses brought to Assateague Island in the l7th century, Chincoteague ponies have become adapted to their environment. The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns the entire herd (about 150 horses) and auctions off some foals and yearlings every July to benefit the town's ambulance and fire services.
Habitats: More than 14,000 acres of beach, dune marsh and maritime forest.
Access: Daylight hours year round.
Wild life: Waterfowl, piping plover, and Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel, loggerhead sea turtle, peregrine falcon. Also provides habitat for sika deer, white-tailed deer, muskrat, river otter, spotted and atlantic bottle nosed porpoises, common dolphin, quahogs, blue crabs, snakes, turtles, and the Chincoteague pony.
See other parks in Virginia.