San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge

The San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge lies about 12 miles west of the Brazosport area proper, on the same coastal margin of tidal marsh, coastal prairie, and saltwater impoundments as the nearby Brazoria NWR. Together they form one of the most ecologically significant stretches of Texas Gulf Coast habitat — a landscape of shallow lakes, mud flats, and cordgrass marsh that supports enormous concentrations of waterfowl and shorebirds.

The refuge has an auto tour loop accessible in a standard car, several walking trails, and boat launches for canoes and kayaks into the tidal creeks and bayous. Birding is the primary draw: in winter, the refuge holds tens of thousands of snow geese, white-fronted geese, and ducks. Roseate spoonbills, great blue herons, and tricoloured herons are year-round sights. Alligators are common in the warmer months. Access is off FM 2611; no entrance fee is charged.

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San Bernard and neighboring Brazoria NWR are part of a network of Texas coastal refuges established partly in response to the near-extinction of the whooping crane. The whooping crane — once reduced to just 21 individuals in the 1940s — has slowly recovered, and Brazoria County's coastal marshes are part of the birds' migration corridor between their breeding grounds in Canada and their Gulf Coast wintering sites. Occasional whooping crane sightings at San Bernard are reported each winter.

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