The Mississippi sandhill crane is a smaller, darker resident cousin of the migrating cranes that winter on the coast, and it is found mostly in Jackson County. The refuge was set aside on November 25, 1975, with 1,749 acres bought from The Nature Conservancy. It was the first national wildlife refuge created under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the crane had been listed as endangered two years before.
The refuge exists partly because of a fight over Interstate 10. In the 1970s people feared the highway would finish off a population of about thirty birds. The refuge and a reduced number of interchanges in crane habitat were the compromise. Since 1981 captive-bred cranes have been released each year, and the Fish and Wildlife Service now puts the wild population near 200, up from 30 to 35 at the start. The cranes need wet pine savanna, flat clay ground under scattered pines where a square meter can hold more than thirty kinds of plants, kept open by prescribed fire.
The visitor center has exhibits, a twelve-minute film and an observation deck over the savanna. The C. L. Dees Trail runs three-quarters of a mile and the Fontainebleau Trail one mile. Guided crane tours generally run from late fall to late winter, depending on staffing, so ask at the desk. Rare orchids and pitcher plants grow among the pines.
The closest stops worth working into your route