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California
60

State of California Parks

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USA Parks
California
Central Coast & Central Valley Region
Merced National Wildlife Refuge
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Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge snow geese taking off © wei lian
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Sutanu Ghosh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge Killdeer © Judi Zoboli
Killdeer in the Marsh
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Cait Hutnik
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Cait Hutnik
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Cait Hutnik
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Cait Hutnik
Merced National Wildlife Refuge © Cait Hutnik
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MERCED NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
MERCED NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Merced County, California

Phone: 209-826-3508
Email: park email button icon
Merced Refuge, located in California's northern San Joaquin Valley, is critically important to wintering waterfowl, and attracts large concentrations of ducks, geese, and lesser sandhill cranes.

Over 2,000 acres of seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands are extensively managed to produce natural waterfowl food plants such as wild millet and swamp timothy. Thousands of ducks (primarily pintails), green-winged teal, and an impressive variety of shorebirds and wading birds, use the wetland habitat.

The refuge hosts up to 15,000 lesser sandhill cranes, the largest population in the Central Valley. Peak populations occur during November. A mixture of up to 100,000 geese (Ross', snow, white-fronted, and cackling Canada geese) use refuge marsh and croplands during November to March.
FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES OVERVIEW
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Visitor Comments, Memories and Reviews
January 1 Th Best Place To See Sandhill Cranes by sxjghosh
park review stars; one to five Never ceases to amaze. Here is some footage I took: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wZdtpFzyRQ
September 17 Looks like the place to be this winter by Ork
park review stars; one to five Although water was just now being pumped in I enjoyed the auto tour and did see several cormorants.
January 3 Birders paradise by jrsachs
park review stars; one to five We had a wonderful visit. Thousands of Ross geese were feeding there that day along with a great variety of shore birds. Quite a few hawks as well.
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Directions
Merced Refuge can be reached by driving 8 miles south of Merced on State Highway 59 and then 8 miles west on Sandy Mush Road.

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California
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State of California Parks

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