About this Event
Join us on an adventure to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and vicinity as part of our “Explore Florida” series of field trips April 15-17, 2025.
Did you know?
The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 to provide winter habitat for migratory birds, and is one of the oldest refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It encompasses about 86,000 acres in Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties, and includes about 43 miles of north Florida’s Gulf coast. Congress has designated 17,350 acres of the Refuge a National Wilderness Area.
To sign up
We are limiting the number of participants to 12.
If you plan to join us, you must do the following:
- Reserve your spot by getting a ticket through Eventbrite.
- Make room reservations on your own early. This is a popular venue, and reservations are already open for April 2025.
- Send us your hotel confirmation number to .
We are requiring folks to email us their hotel confirmation numbers because some people who take the time to obtain Eventbrite tickets do not show up for events, leaving us with a waitlist that we cannot clear and empty spots for events. Also, SJRA members will also have a preference over non-members if we have more than 12 people who want to join us.
About the trip
To start this adventure, We will meet at the Visitors Center inside the NWR on Tuesday the 15th at 12pm.
The NWR is approximately a 3-hour drive from St. Augustine. Please drive up on your own or carpool with someone, but plan on carpooling within the NWR and Tuesday and Wednesday so we limit the number of cars. Too many of the hot spots have limited parking.
The Hotel
We will be staying at the famed Lodge at Wakulla Springs inside the Wakulla Springs State Park.
https://thelodgeatwakullasprings.com/accommodations/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20145239189&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwp4m0BhBAEiwAsdc4aA08_X04FhiOiQzqFwPdYz8xkkyrwIWgjOQ-L0z2yA_obYd2sX8XXBoCmVcQAvD_BwE
Room rates range from $139-169 per night but they do have Senior discounts as well as military discounts. They do have a restaurant, but breakfast is not served until 7:30.
Food
Since we plan to begin birding no later than 7:30 AM, some of us will go to Savannah's Country Buffet as they open at 6 AM and serve a really good breakfast. We will be on the road for lunch so either bring something for lunch or ask the hotel the night before to provide a bagged lunch. We are not planning any formal all together dinners because some folks may be tired at the end of the day. There is a good restaurant at the lodge, but you may want to try some of the local areas (not too many)
https://www.facebook.com/savannahswakulla/?paipv=0&eav=AfbvA2ESKaoLon3XFwkQCokjjaqULR30qKvpbtvSx7b6U6S675ntkEmDX4O7ALePQGM&_rdr
More details to come
We are working on details for this trip which we will send to ticket holders at a later date. You should expect to pay entrance fees and share gas costs with the carpool drivers.
Cover photo credit: Historic St. Marks Lighthouse at Sunset, Michael Maxwell/USFWS, Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved - Used by Permission, https://www.fws.gov/media/historic-st-marks-lighthouse-sunset
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 1255 Lighthouse Road, Saint Marks, United States
USD 0.00