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Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Cambridge

4.8

#1 of 16 in Things to do in Cambridge

Wildlife Area Nature / Park Must See

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The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. The refuge is located on Maryland's Eastern Shore, just 12 mi (19 km) south of Cambridge, Maryland in Dorchester County, and consists of over 28,000 acres (110 km2) of freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests. Blackwater NWR is one of over 540 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.


Blackwater Refuge is fed by the Blackwater River and the Little Blackwater River. The name "blackwater" comes from the tea-colored waters of the local rivers, which are darkened by the tannin that is picked up as the water drains through peat soil in the marshes.

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Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Reviews

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TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

478 reviews

• By carolehid

  Had never visited in the winter but so special with hundreds of tundra swans, snow geese, white pelicans and bald eagles just hanging out on telephone poles shooting the breeze. Trails were short but....  more »

• By Jerry-retired

  Because this is a wildlife refuge the types of birds that are there varies greatly from time to time.  more »

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