Pelican Trail at San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge

The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is one of the refuges in the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Of all the refuges, this one has the longest trail, so my daughter and I decided to try this park out first yesterday on a maiden voyage to the complex. We had a blast, and I know that we will be coming back here in the winter to see the great migration of Aleutian cackling geese and Sandhill cranes. I was really excited that we saw several Riparian brush rabbits right near the parking lot. 

Trail map, available on site

This park was great for an outing for families with very young kids. We did not bring a stroller on our trip, but the trail is mostly quite level and made with compacted gravel. A sturdy stroller (i.e., not an umbrella stroller) would handle this trail fine. There is also a bathroom and picnic tables (although I don't recommend either during the time of the coronavirus). 

We saw loads of rabbits, both the common jack rabbit and the endangered Riparian brush rabbit, right at the beginning of the trail.

Then we saw some snakes and a surprisingly still tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus, link) along the wetland loop. My daughter's favorite part of the hike was the Riparian Loop where she was able to get close enough to the waters to throw in some of the small rocks that she had gathered from the trail. There were wild roses (Rosa californica, link) blooming all along the trails. It was surprising dark and windy for a mid-May afternoon, but the breeze was refreshing as the rains started to come in. I am sure that this park gets hot in the summer, but it was just so pleasant in May--and very sparsely visited. It was a great place for social-distance hiking and wildlife-viewing.