Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Vian

Excellent place to go for a slow sightseeing drive, a bicycle ride, a walk or run. There are two asphalt looped trails, each are about a mile long. The roads in the refuge are wide well-maintained gravel roads with no elevation gain. Roads are straight with very few curves. It’s amazing to hear the flicks of birds take flight and hear a roar of wings. Photographers also flock to the area to capture that perfect bird picture. There are also deer, armadillos, skunks, raccoons, and possums. Giant cottonwoods can also be found in the refuge. Check the calendar to make sure youth hunts are not taking place during your planned time of visit...unless that’s the reason you’re visiting. There are also two boat ramps from which to launch a boat onto the river, and one area to launch onto the south side of Sally Jones Lake. I have kayaked with my elementary school age daughter here for several miles on the river. She really liked the tire sized lilly pads and finding treasures that had washed ashore. Great place to...

Waterfowl management has gone way downhill over the last 20 years. There's barely any ag fields planted anymore, which has a significant impact on the number of birds in the area. Last decent season was 2017, as evidenced by their surveys. 20 years ago no one even bothered unless there were at least 10k ducks. Nowadays anything over 3-4k is considered good numbers, but that hasn't happened in 6 years. Last 6 years the surveys have struggled to count 1000 birds, last couple years has been just a few hundred with each one. If you don't plant the ag fields and harvest them you're not gonna see any birds. This is why the migration is now in western OK and...

Very peaceful, quiet, not crowded. There are two accessible (paved) 1 mile hikes that you can take your dog on, plus a great auto tour. Saw lots of birds (mostly woodpeckers (many kinds), cardinals, white throated sparrow, hawks/eagles, and various waterfowl when we were there in the late fall, but also brown creeper, hummingbird, titmouse, wren, chickadee, and even an owl), lots of butterflies, and a fair amount of snakes and turtles. Enjoyed it so much we went back the next day! Watch for wasps around the restrooms. Stay on the trails because some of the snakes are copperheads. Signage is pretty good and the road is in...