Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Texas

We attended the Attwater Prairie Chicken festival. The event is free! The new visitor center is fantastic! However, they are already having septic issues! That's a concern. If the bathrooms stop working there are no others on site. Google maps leaves you in the middle of the road about a 1/2 of mile away, so when it says you have arrived continue for a little longer to the visitor center. There was a lack of details that would have been nice to know beforehand. For example that we get on busses and are driven for 15 minutes to the viewing platform, and as every new group comes the previous group needs to leave. So you have about 15 minutes with the birds. It would be better to have more platforms if possible. As a side note if you come on your own it is rare to see any Attwater Prairie Chickens since the birds mainly reside on the non public area of the refuge. In order to have the highest chance outside of the festival event join one of the monthly van tours they offer. The other way to have some luck seeing them is to do the self guided auto tour, which is open to the public all day. The volunteers for the event had very little information about how the day was working besides what was on the calendar. The facility definitely needs an event coordinator for this weekend event. I feel like this should have been published more as an event around Texas because this is such an amazing experience! I only saw a couple of social media postings, but no events on any platform were created. For example the Sandhill migration events are more widely published. Please attend this event and...

Since the pandemic hit, my family has started taking drives through the country on weekends just to get out of the house. We happened upon APC Wildlife Refuge by accident and decided to turn in. It turned into one of the most happy accidents ever. We adore this place. We go there at least once every other weekend now. We’ve seen deer, jackrabbits, owls, lots of quail and dove, a spoonbill (many other birds than I know the names of), butterflies, cattle, gar, and recently a cottonmouth (yes be careful!). More species than I can name off the top of my head honestly. Lots of beautiful wildflowers...The place is so pristine. You don’t even have to get out of your car to enjoy it, although we look forward to when our son is a little older so we can explore the hiking trails more. If you’re wanting to get out of the house and see some nature while social distancing, there is no better place I can think of. We haven’t seen a Prairie Chicken yet, but we haven’t been there at the right time of day for it. We can’t wait until tours open back up so we can increase our chances of spotting one! Also, we look forward to meeting the staff that helps keep it so beautiful here. This place is a treasure. I can’t believe I’ve lived in the Houston area all my life and never went...

This refuge seems to be seriously overlooked. I came here to get a bonus stamp on my park passport and was pleasantly surprised with my overall experience. The park is fairly remote and has gravel roads leading to the visitors center. When I arrived, the refuge rangers/staff were very friendly and accommodating. They helped me with my stamp and set up a video about the Attwater prairie chicken. After the video the ranger showed me the way to the trails. There are 3 separate trails at this refuge. I only went on two of them. I highly recommend the 1.5 mile sycamore trail. It's very scenic and features lots of wildlife. The sycamore trail definitely gave me better insight on coastal prairie ecosystems. The second trail I went on was the 5 mile self guided auto tour through the refuge. This trail was particularly nice because It goes deep into the park and I spotted many lovely birds. Overall I would highly recommend this refuge for anyone passing through the area or anyone looking for a quick retreat...