San Luis National Wildlife Refuge - Main Unit

Erica King

Cool place saw lots of local wildlife. Coyotes, geese, ducks and bunny's to be found. The visitor center look nice, wish it was open

Howard Friedman

If you like bird watching wildlife in general this place is for you. The Visitor Center is really wonderful and the staff that are nice very informative. The auto route is wonderful and easy to follow. Best times to visit or from late fall through late spring. I highly recommend this and the sun sets can be incredibly gorgeous in this place

M Alcalá

Was excited to go see this Wildlife Refuge for a long time. I got to opportunity to visit today with my niece's 3rd grade class. Madelyn and her team provided a rich history and insight of the refuge.

Xin

The staff working there was horrible. Upon reaching the visitor center, whoever sit there didn’t even bother to look up or say hi. When being asked about directions, she pretended didn’t hear the first time, making impatient sound. I stood there, waited for a couple minutes, finally she looked up and answered that one question. I’m the only one in this place, it must be a very busy day for her. Later, I unfortunately followed Google maps and took the Hereford rd path, got stuck on one muddy spot. I called road side service and the visitor center. The answer from her again was impatient with no empathy. Telling me “No one here can help you.” That’s it. No wonder they didn’t even bother mark the unsafe road. I’ve been to many national parks and wildlife refuges, and this is by far the worst. I didn’t know how a place claim to protect animal would treat their fellow human so cold. I hope whoever pick up that phone can live with their conscious. To anyone who has the patience to read through this review. Go to the Merced national wildlife refuge, their road are well maintained and their marshes are full of migrating birds. There’s not much birds in this refuge, and a tons of coyotes at night. Maybe there’s a reason for that.

Bryan Roos

I really loved my visit here. I went in early August which is not really the prime season so I practically had the whole place to myself. The exibits at the visitor center are informative, well done and interesting to look at. The two people working there were both friendly and helpful and set me in the direction of the car tours. I know there are a few different access points. The one I visited was the main entrance with auto tours, Tule Elk and Waterfowl. In the summer all of the marshes and wetlands are drained, but I did find water on the Waterfowl tour by taking a spur off the Chester Marsh trail. There's much more water off of the Tule Elk route and lots of little parking areas for fishing access and nice little spots to sit by the river. If you take any of the car tours, it's great to be prepared to spend some time. It was so quiet I could have stopped anywhere I wanted for an hour or two and had a picnic. I really enjoyed the half day I spent, and no charge for any of it. Next time I go I'll bring enough food and water to make a whole day of it. So peaceful.

Gary Lew

It's a great place to visit, hardly anybody there. Roads are well maintained. Lots of birds. It was a fun challenge to try and find birds in the big trees like hawks and owls. The drive around the Tule Elk compound was fun. The Elk know you're looking at them and they stare back at you, but they keep their distance. I would go back again, there's so much to see.

Crangis McBasketball

Great place for a quick visit, especially if you like seeing and experiencing native wildlife. It is free to enter and park, and there is a nice visitor center that has an impressive display of local birds, as well as information on the Tule Elk, and several brochures you can take on the go. The staff was helpful, and they pointed us in the direction of a picnic table for our lunch we brought. We hiked the 0.8 mile trail near the visitor center and were fascinated with the bird activity, especially along the boardwalk that extends out into the marsh. We also did the auto tour of the Tule Elk enclosure and were able to see this amazing species native to California and once thought extinct. We easily spent 2 hours here, and will most likely return sometime to take the birding auto tour. We went in the spring, and it was beautiful and green. But being in the Central Valley, I imagine it can get hot in the summers. We encountered some mosquitoes on our hike, but only in one section. And keep in mind that the auto tour roads are dirt - well maintained, flat, free of obstacles, but obviously a little dusty.

Sophia Eckstein

We decided to stop on the way home from a Spartan race. There was so much to see and do. My daughter had fun exploring and learning about area and the wildlife here. There hiking trails and autocar tours. We got to spy on the rare California Tule Elk. At one point there number was 27. Thanks to protection and conservation they are a couple thousand strong but far from previous numbers at one time.