Your Guide to the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge
Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge is infested by hungry mosquitoes, but proves to be a unique, educational experience best experienced as an auto tour. It’s a large 44,414 acre wildlife refuge located about ~1 hr south of central Houston in Angleton.
GETTING THERE
DO NOT rely on your Google Maps app for this one. It will lead you to the refuge employee entrance, which was closed when we tried to visit. Don’t make the same mistake we did and have to drive an extra 20 minutes around the entire refuge to get inside. Instead, your best bet is to put in the Discovery Center address: 2072 Hoskins Mound Rd, Angleton, TX 77515
When we arrived at the Discovery Center ready to the hit the trails we were greeted by signs warning of us of bees in the area. What they really should have warned us about were mosquitoes. We were ATTACKED the minute we got near the trailhead. After running back to the car and slamming the doors shut, we had to proceed to kill about 5 mosquitoes that had somehow managed to make their way inside our car just in the few minutes the door was open.
THE AUTO TOUR
We then proceeded to the auto tour. Note that it is a dirt, unpaved path. The Discovery Center was closed during the pandemic so we weren’t able to access the audio tour for the tour. However, upon coming home we learned that the tour is actually available online! Make sure to have this Youtube playlist saved when you visit: Big Slough Auto Tour – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GhKXVqaP1k&list=PLPtCL0LEGtiM_HHfPTW3oFUz9iSJGezIq
We drove around most of the stops and admired the swamp ecosystem and wildlife including birds and many mosquitoes near our car windows. No gators, but check out the snake skin we saw on the side of the road!
CONCLUSION
This one is best saved for the wildlife if you’re interested in hiking, but it proves to be a unique, educational experience via an auto tour!
Learn more about the refuge at: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/brazoria/
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