Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Dover

Beautiful place. The drive-thru aspect makes it ideal for families with small children who can't walk very far. There's a 12-mile loop of road, and all of the trails either lead off from the road or the parking lot. The trails range in length from 0.3 miles to 2.7 miles, and the distance is usually (not always) marked at the trailhead, so you know what to expect.

You can also bike or walk on the road; you don't need a car.

The hours listed here are a bit misleading. The Visitor Center is only open from 8 AM - 4 PM, but the park itself is open from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes past sunset. You buy your park pass using the QR code posted in the Visitor Center front window; you don't even need to go inside. It's $4 for cars and $2 if you're biking or hiking, IIRC. Then there's like a 50-cent "convenience fee" or something.

The bathroom is located at the Visitor Center, but it uses a separate door and it stays unlocked after 4 PM.

There are EV charging stations in the parking lot.

Definitely bring plenty of bug spray. The mosquitoes and biting flies weren't as bad here as they were at some of the other parks/refuges we visited in the Rehoboth Beach area, but you still do need bug spray.

There are some observation towers above some of the ponds, ideal for viewing waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds. We saw several great egrets, and dozens of snowy egrets, along with Canadian geese, sandpipers, gulls, and ducks.

I was hoping to see a bald eagle, since I've never seen one IRL, and so many of the reviews here mentioned seeing them. Well, we didn't see any bald eagles, or any bird more interesting than the great egret. We had resigned ourselves to not seeing anything really interesting, and were just going to do 1 more trail (the Bear Swamp trail) before heading out.

We got out of the car at the parking space for Bear Swamp trail...and were greeted by two red foxes who were quite unfazed and unbothered by our presence. I'm pretty sure people have been feeding them, because they hung around for a few minutes looking expectant and hopeful, before giving up on us and heading off down the trail.

We followed them and watched them for quite some time as they foraged on the ground for what I believe were mushrooms. Often they would come within 2 feet of us as they crisscrossed back and forth along the trail. Then they walked off further into the woods, and we kept on the trail.

Later, as we were driving on the road, we saw 3 of them. I'm pretty sure the first 2 were the same pair we saw earlier, but obviously it's hard to tell. Again, they all seemed curious and hopeful, as if they thought we might feed them. The 3rd one actually approached the car after we stopped and just looked up at us like, "Well? Do you have snacks, or not?" I realize it's bad for them to learn to expect food from humans, but it sure was cool to see them up...

Great place to go birdwatching, take pictures, and see lots of wildlife. Recently completed Visitors Center is outstanding and handicapped accessible. Fantastic staff.

The main attraction is the 12-mile wildlife drive that really passes you by three main areas. You can drive it, walk it or bike it. Depending on the time of year, the flies and bugs can be unbearable, but if there is a wind, this helps and wearing long sleeves and pants is highly recommended. There are also multiple trails that you can hike varying in length and terrain. Parsons Point Trail and the Boardwalk trails are my favorite. All trails are flat terrain, and two are handicapped accessible. There are also two 30-foot towers - one at Shearness Trail and one at Raymond Trail to view the various habitats.

The three main areas are the Raymond Pool, the Shearness Pool and the Bear Swamp Pool. Various habitats include tidal salt marsh, forest and man-made pools.

I always recommend that you check the website to see when the refuge is open (occasionally closes for hunting, etc.) and when the Visitor Center is open. A great place to visit. The

I use this for incredible bird watching. Below are some of the various species I have seen...

This is a great park to do some light sightseeing. The entire road trail is about 12 miles long in a one way route which you can simply drive from point to point where there are several stops along the way you can get out and have a short hike up to some specified point or lookout, or you can park at the entrance and ride a bike through and do the same. The entrance fees are very cheap, $4 for a single car, or $2 if you are biking in (for your entire group). While you will mainly see birds of all sorts, varying by the season, you can also see deer everywhere or even foxes. During the short hikes or even along the driving path many foxes popped up around and seemed to be comfortable with humans about, but would never get too close. The lookout towers offer a unique experience to go above everything and understand the scale of this refuge and we will definitely return many times more...