j.n. "ding" darling national wildlife refuge

Admission: Entrance fees are nominal, and are as little as a dollar for walkers or cyclists.

With 238 species in all, Ding Darling is like a gallery of birds. Access to the 5,000 protected acres of wetlands, mangrove, and hammocks is largely by automobile (the easiest way for families to see the refuge), but there are also year-round hiking and canoe trails (numbered signposts guide you through the mangrove maze). Children will delight in being so close to big, colorful birds, and the wildlife is generally quite unafraid.