Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center — Attraction in Decatur

While I love the Sandhill Cranes, at this point I am more interested in other great wildlife spread over thousands of acres. The new walking / biking trail extends through the woods east of the visitor center before joining the road to Densmore slough. On a 2 hour walk a week ago, I saw over 15 different birds (including some more unusual like Brown Creeper and Yellow-breasted Sapsucker) walking the trail after a brief visit to the Cranes near the visitor center. I like the new blind but wish some provision could also be made for a blind on the observation tower end. The Whooping Cranes, when present, seem to favor that side. The glass front of the tower badly distorts pictures from the tower. I highly recommend the new trail for a chance to spot birds, squirrels, deer and racoons! The ranger staff are very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, especially for new visitors. Once the new visitor center renovatioon and education pavalion are completed in a few months, this will be...

We’ve visited twice in a week because we love it that much! The Visitor Center is so well done and thoughtfully crafted to look beautiful and also share useful information in fun ways, especially for children. The volunteers there are so kind and glad to see the kids excited about the wildlife and the landscapes, and are so helpful and informative. A wonderful field trip for homeschoolers, we went the last week of January and first of February and there were still lots of beautiful sandhill cranes, and even a whooping crane both times. The viewing building where you are able to watch the cranes out by the water is so serene and wonderfully done, you feel immersed in the natural beauty. Trails with a storybook to follow along as you go, and bird blinds for more viewing around the visitor center made it a rich homeschooling day full of exploring and enjoying the cranes and part of the refuge....

The bird viewing areas were so fun, it felt like the humans we're in boxes and the bird's we're looking at us. Whomever designed this center did a wonderful job. It's beautiful. One viewing area is heated with seating and built in binoculars. One viewing box has little 📸 taking windows that open and close. You can view the bird's at all angles plus so many species of bird's. We saw: Whooping and Sandhill Cranes, Canadian Geese, Egrets and many different 🦆 and Kingfishers. The sounds the Cranes make are so eiree and the way they glide taking off and landing are graceful. We hiked the 5 mile Wheeler Nature bike trail. The staff at center are very informative and helpful. We bought shirts and magnets at gift shop. Please leave donation even a few bucks is nice. It's free to visit and enjoy. Hoping to come back when the bird's migrate...