Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife refuge in Palm Beach County, United States.
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a large nature reserve in the northern Everglades ecosystem with sawgrass marshes, tree islands, wet prairies, and swamp areas. The property offers multiple ways to explore: paved walking trails, canoe routes through the water, and bike paths along edges, together with boat ramps and observation towers at several locations.
The refuge was established in 1951 under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act and is managed through a license agreement between the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It protects the most northern remnant of the historic Everglades wetland ecosystem. Water levels are regulated by pumps, canals, water control structures, and levees built by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The refuge is a designated gateway site on the Great Florida Birding Trail, and up to 257 bird species have been recorded there. Visitors can join guided canoe tours, night walks and tram tours, available by reservation only. The butterfly garden near the visitor center and the boardwalk behind it are places to watch wildlife up close.
The refuge lies seven miles west of Boynton Beach. A boardwalk behind the visitor center leads into a 400-acre bald cypress swamp. The Lee Road fishing pier is closed until further notice after Hurricane Irma. Canoe tours, night walks and tram tours require reservations.
A 400-acre bald cypress swamp here is the largest remaining piece of a cypress strand that once divided the eastern pine flatwoods from the Everglades marshes. A boardwalk behind the visitor center leads into it, letting visitors see the swamp without getting their feet wet.
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