• Welcome

• Wildlife & Habitat

• Visitor Opportunities

• Management

• Hunting

• Get Involved

• Plan Your Visit

• About Us

• Staff List & Contact

• Comprehensive Conservation Planning

Welcome

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge contains over 9,250 acres, situated on and around a thin strip of coastline typical of barrier islands found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Habitats include beach, dunes, woodland, farm fields, and marsh. The majority of refuge marshlands are on islands contained within the waters of Back Bay.

Approximately 10,000 snow geese and a large variety of ducks visit Back Bay refuge during the peak of fall migration, usually in December. The refuge also provides habitat for a wide assortment of other wildlife, including threatened and endangered species such as loggerhead sea turtles, piping plovers, peregrine falcons, and bald eagles.

Back Bay provides scenic trails, a visitor contact station, and, with advance scheduling, group educational opportunities.

Back Bay refuge is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia - south of Sandbridge, Virginia at the southern end of Sandpiper Road. See a map of the refuge and driving directions.

Outdoor facilities are open daily dawn to dusk.

The Visitor Contact Station hours are 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. weekdays, 9:00 AM - 4:00 P.M. weekends. The Visitor Contact Station is closed Sundays, November through March; closed holidays with the exception of Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day.

Download a copy of our Refuge Brochure (pdf - 1.97 MB)

Comprehensive Conservation Planning

We are proud to announce that we now have a final comprehensive conservation plan available for Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. If you would like to learn more about our planning effort please read our Planning Newsletter!

To download and read the plan, please visit our planning website.

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

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