The refuge is open from sunrise to sunset all year and is free to the public. Find more details about what you need to legally hunt and fish at the refuge in the tabs below.

Restrooms

The headquarters building has interactive displays and restrooms. Call ahead to find out whether the building is open.

Trail Accessibility

The Red River NWR trails are very accessible for Headquarters Unit visitors with vision and mobility problems. The trails are well kept and marked, and it is easy to use a cane on them.

Learn More

Learn more about the Red River NWR at the refuge’s official website.

The Red River NWR is home to hundreds of species of animals, many of which are birds. You might see owls, sparrows, wrens, gulls, pelicans, gnatcatchers, woodpeckers, doves, cormorants, skinks, squirrels, foxes, or butterflies at the refuge. You can find lists of birds sighted at the refuge with eBird’s Trail Tracker “Headquarters Unit,” “Bayou Pierre Yates Tract,” and “Bayou Pierre Dill Tract” sighting list and iNaturalist’s “Red River National Wildlife Refuge Check List” for other animals reported at the refuge. For more info about the refuge, check out the Red River NWR page.

The Red River NWR’s Lake Caroline, Red River provide anglers with several places to fish off the shore and boat launches to get into the open water. You can find information on getting and maintaining your fishing license and what species you can keep, check out the Wildlife and Fisheries “Recreational Freshwater Finfish and Crawfish” page. You can also learn about the crawfishing licenses there

Hunting is allowed on 12,000 acres across three of the Red River units: Bayou Pierre, Spanish Lake Lowlands, and Lower Cane River. To legally hunt at the Red River NWR, you’ll need a valid Louisiana hunting license and a Migratory Bird Stamp for hunting waterfowl.  Learn more about federal hunting laws enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Red River NWR “Hunting” page and the Louisiana Wildlife Management “WMA/Refuge/Conservation Area Licenses and Permits pages.”