Pelican Island NWR Wildlife Viewing Area — Attraction in Orchid Island

A hidden gem. A nice, easy, cool little walk This is located off A1A just south of the Sebastian inlet on the riverside (west). The entrance is clearly marked and is a dirt/sandy road that heads off at an angle to the southwest. There are many trails off this non-paved road and at least 2 major trailheads. The first one is off to the east side of this dirt road and has a set of very nice bathrooms with a small parking lot. If you travel on from this a little farther south you will find the next trailhead off the west side of the road with another parking lot with about 20 spaces. The actual walking trail is about 6 feet wide and is smooth asphalt-covered. There are two trails that lead off of this parking lot: this one and Pete’s trail. We took the shorter one which is about 0.4 miles and leads to a very nice boardwalk that takes you above the mangroves and ends in an overlook of the birds on the river. Along the trail there is a butterfly area, a lake, a meditation bench, 3 pavilions with views and information and the walkway has a board carved with the dates and locations of the various National Wildlife Refuges in the United States showing that the one you are visiting was formed in 1903 and is the oldest of all of them. Very cool and a very...

It is a great raised, and covered platform with a view of the water and the islands. There are two telescopes that are there for free use and provide an easy way to get a close-up view of the birds that are around. The parking lot is medium-sized and there is a bike rack as well since they do not allow bikes on the paths. The path is paved and flat around a lake and then it comes to the boardwalk up to the platform for the final few hundred feet. The boardwalk takes you on a tour of the history of all wildlife reserves that were established in the first 100 years since the first, Pelican Island was established by Teddy Roosevelt. Each of the reserves are carved into a board of the boardwalk along with the year it was established and it is fun to walk through and read them all. At the platform there are multiple boards giving information about local birds, the history of PINWR,...

Absolutely stunning peek at key Florida habitats; from the paved Centennial Trail (.75mi) I peeped so many native plants! At the end of the trail was a covered lookout with scopes pointing toward Pelican Island where I spotted Roseate spoonbill, Brown pelican and several kinds of herons. I've heard the longer loop trail is more immersive and I'm looking forward to checking that out soon ❤️ Great signage and QR code led tour. I learned that this was in fact the first NWR established by T. Roosevelt in 1903! And here I thought I knew everything already 😜 Access from the "quiet ride" on the Jungle Trail (connecting...