If you want to spend time with nature along with activities like fishing, bird watch, biking, hiking or just scenic drive at short drive anywhere from the Dallas area then Hagerman National Bird Refuge is just the right place for you to stop.
This place is Complete outdoor best to visit with kids and family,
You can reach by 45 min to 1 hour drive anywhere from Dallas area or other nearby city like Frisco, Plano, Prosper,Little Elm, Allen.
It is located on the Northwestern Grayson County – Lake Texoma, between Oklahoma and Texas.
Location : 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman , Tx 75092
Cost : Free
Monday to Friday 7.30 am to 4 pm
Saturday – 9am – 4 pm
Sunday -1-5 pm
The Visitor center is closed due to Covid, but the gates are open to the public from sunrise to sunset,
Things To Do At Hagerman Refuge,
Hagerman Refuge will take you to the amazing Scenic Drive of 4 mile . You can enjoy the drive by watching birds, wild flowers , butterflies and amazing scenery.
Be Ready for Hiking . Yes, they do have good hiking trails and the map is available at the entrance.
How to Prepare For Hagerman Drive.
Bring your own water bottle, snacks, if you are planning for picnic bring all your a picnic items and they have a wide open space with a shaded picnic spot at the end of the 4 mile drive.
Wearing shoes and climate appropriate clothes are a must need. Since it is outdoor, even cold wind will give you discomfort.
Pet friendly place to play and to walk on trail.
Baby strollers are little hard to take on trail but newborn babies and mommies can enjoy the drive and small trail walks.
Inside the 4 mile drive like dirt road. But , not very hard to drive. So ready for the little bumpy drive.
Quiet and Calm place to enjoy nature .
If you are one who enjoys the very calm and quiet nature walk then this place for you.
Visual treat for anyone who visit by sunrise or by sunset .
You can have a closer look to the traditional oil pump. Oil pumps are placed in many places, they do operate at certain times. Kids got excited to see the real oil pumps .
How much Time You can spend with kids and families.
If you plan to explore the place then 2 to 3 hours will be enough to make 4 mile drive .
If you plan to make a picnic , then you can spend half a day to one full day like 11 am to 4 to 6 pm.
Make sure to bring all your food and water bottles because there are no shops available near this place. You have to drive back miles to get cup of coffee or water!!
Checkout for Unijou 30 to 1 hour drive places to Cute Franck Buck Zoo, Sharkarosa wildlife Ranch
For Babies/ Pregnant women/ how to engage toddler kids
For Babies/Mom
Babies can ride on the good heavy stroller. Check weather and wear appropriate cloths. 3 to 4 hour will be fine for babies but staying half a day or whole day will be little hard for mom and babies since it is complete outdoor !!
But walking during pleasant weather for 30 min to 1 hour at this location will be relaxing for any new mommy. Always check weather before you start from home!!
For Pregnant Mommies,
Always wear good shoes, You can make a calm nature walk by visiting migrating birds. If you plan on the right weather then this place will be amazing for you to walk and dive into nature on a short drive!!
Spending 3 to 4 hours will be good !!
For Toddler Kids ,
As most toddler kids say, we are bored. It is easy to say we are bored after watching 100s of birds too !! So plan with some outdoor playing activity and sports kits.
Ask them to pack their own favorite snack for this short trip and bring for card games, foldable chairs. You can play at end of the 4 mile dirt drive.
Wearing good sport shoe and running or going for scenic trail will be fun, kids can stay for long time ,if they come with their same age kids or friends or 3 to 4 hours of play will be good for family .
Explore Quick places to visit near Dallas by UNIJOU.,
The Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge,A haven place for migratory birds and wildlife.It was opened in 1946 and it is in Grayson County ,Tx.It’s governing body is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
At the visitor center they have butterfly garden and beautiful garden. By the time ,we went there were no butterfly and flowers!!
But, the amazing lake view makes you happy for the visit .
Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge one of the hidden gem places near to dallas.
We explored Hagerman during spring break in 2020. Birds we saw
Neotropic Cormorant, American White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Red Shouldered Hawk, Brown Pelican
Here are list of birds shared by Abhinav
Few Types of Birds
Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge has 346 species of birds so I am going to share only a few.
- Mallard,
- Mourning dove
- Painted Bunting
- Wood Duck
- Greater Roadrunner
- Blue Jay
- House Finch
- Marbled Godwit
- Bald Eagle
- Barred Owl
- Fish Crow
- Wild Turkey
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Great Horned Owl
- Ruddy Duck
- Black Tern
- Forster’s Tern
- Bobolink
- Whimbrel
- Sanderling
Our trip (Abhinav shared his Experience at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge)
When went to this wildlife refuge we went to the visitor center but it was closed but at least we got to in the butterfly garden that did NOT have butterflies ,but the flowers were pretty.Then we went on a drive near the lakes in one lake we saw 5 snowy egrets!And we saw 5 small ducks in a small lake.In total we might have seen 35 birds!!!
It was awesome!!! Our pet parakeet would have enjoyed it but we did not bring him,I bet he would have a fun time.It was very close to us it was only 1 hour away.
And it is worth even 10 hours if you want to see birds. I did not see any other animal besides birds.I did not see a single fish or reptile or mammal…I DIDN’T EVEN SEE A BUG OR A SPIDER !!!
There were a bunch of broken logs in the water I don’t know how they stood in the water so still. There were a bunch of fields, marshes and lakes.It was beautiful.
