Cache River National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge, Established 1986 To Protect Bottomland Hardwood Along The Cache River And The Lower White. Part Of The Cache Lower White Rivers Ramsar Wetland Of International Importance, And The Forest At The Centre Of The 2004 Ivory Billed Woodpecker Reports. · Augusta, Arkansas

The Cache River refuge protects what is left of the Big Woods - the bottomland hardwood that once ran continuously down the Mississippi valley and now survives in fragments, of which this and the adjoining White River refuge are the largest. It is a Ramsar wetland of international importance, which is a rarer listing than any federal designation, and it holds bald cypress that are among the oldest living things east of the Rocky Mountains - individual trees standing in water here have been dated at well over a thousand years. In 2004 a kayaker reported an ivory-billed woodpecker in these woods and for about two years the refuge was the most closely watched forest on earth; the bird was never confirmed and the search wound down, but the attention did get the Big Woods protected and connected. It floods for months at a time, which is the whole reason the trees are still standing, and it is why almost nobody comes.

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas Delta, Augusta, Arkansas, United States

Open during daylight hours year-round with no entrance fee. There is no full visitor centre on the refuge itself; the Cache River unit is administered alongside the White River refuge and information comes from those offices. Access is governed by water, not by season - the bottoms flood from winter into early summer and roads, trails and launches close for months. Waterfowl hunting seasons close sections from late autumn. Check water levels and the current closure map before driving out.

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