Along Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Wild Birds Unlimited Trail is a short accessible trail connecting two great bird observation platforms on the marshes.
Resources
Overview
Location: Titusville
Length: 0.5 miles
Lat-Long: 28.655817, -80.777273
Type: round-trip
Fees / Permits: $10 per vehicle (paid when you start the Black Point Wildlife Drive)
Difficulty: easy
Bug factor: highly variable depending on the breeze
Restroom: up the road at the Cruickshank Trail
Directions
Take I-95 exit 220, Titusville, and follow SR 406 east for 8 miles over the causeway to Merritt Island. Take CR 402 east for 3 miles and turn left on CR 406. Continue 1.4 miles to Black Point Wildlife Drive. Follow this scenic one-lane, one-way road around the impoundments for a little under 2 miles to the parking area on the right.
Hike
From the parking area, walk back along Wildlife Drive to access the trailhead. The quarter-mile hardpacked levee allows for a gentle stroll from which you can watch birds in the denser marshes to the east as you walk down to the first observation platform. Built with slatted sides, it’s a bird blind out in the open, with a spotter scope to help you see the roseate spoonbills that often congregate in coves on the far shore.
Back on the levee, continue walking along it, watching for activity in both the open water and the mangrove marshes. Keep an eye on the wildflowers that line the trail, as you’ll see plenty of butterfly activity throughout them. The second observation platform overlooks a more intimate scene of two small coves surrounded by mangroves. When the tide is low, you’ll see many wading birds working their way through the shallows.
Turn around and return to the parking area for a 0.5-mile round trip.
Trail Map
Cruickshank Trail
