Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
Wildlife Reserve · Austwell, Texas
More than 115,000 acres of coastal marsh, oak motte and bay shoreline north of Rockport, established in 1937 and best known as the place where the last naturally occurring wild flock of whooping cranes on earth spends the winter. The Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock fell below twenty-five birds in the 1940s; the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated a record 557 wintering on the Texas coast in 2024-25. A sixteen-mile drive and a forty-foot tower let you look for them.
1 Wildlife Circle, Austwell, Texas, 77950, United States
Auto tour and trails open DAILY, sunrise to sunset. Visitor Center 9 AM - 4 PM TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY; closed Sundays, Mondays and federal holidays — self-register at the kiosk when it is shut. Entry roughly $3-$5 per vehicle, CASH ONLY at the kiosk or pre-paid on recreation.gov. Whooping cranes late October to mid-April.
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