In 1974 the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge was established to “to protect the delta and its diversity of fish and wildlife habitats.” It’s a beautiful and, at $3 per vehicle, inexpensive way to spend a day exploring the delta’s rich variety of animal and plant life. There are several trails traversing the refuge, including a two-mile long boardwalk with several covered viewing platforms that allow visitors to watch the tides come and go directly underneath them, along with the wildlife that follows.
I recently spent a very chilly winter’s morning at the refuge walking its trails and chasing the morning light. While the wildlife wasn’t as varied as I’d hoped for, it still was a fantastic way to spend a rare clear-skied January day in the Pacific Northwest, and it was an opportunity to get up close and personal (in the photographic sense) with a magnificent Great Blue Heron, among a few other things.