Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

IBA (Important Birding Area)

Directions: From Olympia take I-5 to Exit 114. Then turn left and follow Brown Farm Road for .7 mile to parking and trailhead at the Refuge Visitor Center.

Ownership: United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Distance: 3 miles of trails
Difficulty: Easy, level well maintained trails and boardwalks
Fees/Permits: $3.00 per four adults entrance fee; or Interagency Passes accepted

Notes: Kid-friendly, dogs prohibited, restrooms and water available. Northern end of the Nisqually Estuary Trail is closed from October to late January for hunting season.

Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

Wedged between Olympia and Tacoma, the 3,100-acre Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge protects one of the last remaining relatively undeveloped river deltas in southern Puget Sound. The refuge is an important stop for migratory birds, and more than 200 species of birds have been recorded here throughout the year. With its excellent trail system including a one mile elevated boardwalk, numerous blinds and interpretive signs, the refuge is one of the best bird viewing spots in the Puget Trough.

The Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 at the mouth of the glacier-fed Nisqually River; much from an old dairy farm.  The refuge includes a visitor’s center and the Twin Barns Loop and the Nisqually Estuary Trails. The entire trail system is wheelchair accessible. The trails give excellent birdwatching vantages of the refuge’s sloughs, dikes, wetland pools, and extensive mud and tidal flats. When the tide is out, take to the boardwalk traversing glistening mud and salt flats. Depending on the season, look for American bitterns, Virginia rails, wigeons, dunlins, dowitchers, greater yellowlegs, sandpipers bald eagles, peregrine falcons, merlins, purple martins, and northern shrikes.