Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
A 7,157-acre National Wildlife Refuge located in five separate units in Baldwin and Mobile Counties, directly west of Gulf Shores on the Fort Morgan Peninsula. Habitats within the Refuge include beaches and sand dunes, scrub forests, interdunal swales (a mix of grasslands, small ponds and depression marshes), fresh and saltwater marshes, freshwater wetlands, maritime forests, oyster reefs, riparian buffers, and pine savanna. Translated as “safe harbor” in French, Bon Secour is home to Alabama’s only remaining undisturbed coastal barrier habitat. It was established for the protection of neo-tropical migratory songbirds and as a refuge for threatened and endangered species such as the Alabama beach mouse and Loggerhead, green, and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles which nest and hatch on its beaches. It offers two hiking trails; one with a kayak/canoe launch and one with beach access.
About
Stop by the visitor center to learn about the local flora and fauna and chat with refuge staff and volunteers who can provide helpful information, maps, brochures, and checklists.
The Refuge’s trails are open year-round from dawn to dusk and are designed for foot traffic only. Bicycles are not permitted.
Part of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail and Indigenous Mound Trail.
State Highway 180, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
(251) 540-7720