US South - Best Wildlife Watching
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee.
America's most visited national park would be a good choice for cycling or hiking, but we'll
opt for the wide variety of wildlife, headed by more than 1,100 black bear. The tally also
includes 230 species of birds, 65 species of mammals, and enough varieties of salamanders to
make the park the Salamander Capital of the World. Call 423-436-1200.
2. Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana.
Converted rice fields provide habitat for a wide variety of waterfowl and their ground-based
running mates, alligators, in this relatively new refuge. Look for ibis, egret, roseate spoonbills,
and our favorite, anhingas, along with white-tailed deer and swamp rabbits. Call 318-598-2216.
3. Assateague Island, Virginia and Maryland.
And now for something completely different: This barrier island has all the usual
suspects-migrating birds, resident waterfowl, and white-tailed and Sika deer-but the
stars of the show are the wild horses. Descended from the domestic stock of 1700s farmers,
these small and sturdy "ponies," as their admirers call them, run free. Call Chincoteague National Refuge at 757-336-6122.
4. Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida.
Head straight west out of Miami to the Everglades' Shark Valley and you'll swear you were in
a Tarzan movie. Bike, walk, or take a tram ride on a 15-mile paved loop and get
very up-close-and-personal with alligators and multitudes of wading birds. You'll do Tarzan's yell
from the observation tower at the halfway point. Call 305-221-8455.
5. Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
A virtual winter condo for migrating waterfowl, this refuge in White County hosts blue-winged
teal, mallards, pintails, wood ducks, and snow geese. A pair of bald eagles makes its home here,
along with turkeys, river otters, bobcats, and deer. Call 870-347-2614.
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