April 17, 2023
What a fantastic visit!
Half the fun of this one is figuring out how to get there. The National Wildlife Refuge is located on the northernmost tip of Nantucket, not at all close to the ferry docks. You also have to first cross the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, which is separate from the national wildlife refuge and can close if there is significant rainfall or a seasonal very high tide.
To gain access to the Coskata-Coatue refuge, you have to first get to the gatehouse at the very end of Wauwinet Road. You’ll need a rental jeep, or at the very least a bicycle and a very early start to your day. Once there, you have two options. You can walk the seven miles one-way over loose sand (no walking on wet sand allowed since you might disturb seals), or you can deflate the air in your jeep rental’s tires and drive out. You absolutely must deflate the air before venturing out or you will likely get stuck, and help to get unstuck apparently runs around $600.
There is a third option – one of which I was not aware until I got to my hotel, the Wauwinet. I treated myself to this hotel since it is located just past the gatehouse for the Coskata-Coatue refuge, and they offer free rides to the hotel from the ferry landing. This hotel is wonderful and the service is beyond excellent…and, in the spring and fall, they offer complimentary guided jeep tours out to the National Wildlife Refuge! I discovered this when I checked in. A tour was leaving in twenty minutes, so I threw my stuff in my room and joined the two other guests for the tour. Yes, I know, I am a hiker, and fourteen miles round trip is not that big a deal. BUT fourteen miles over loose sand….yuck. Very happy to get in the jeep.
A word on the Wauwinet. It is a luxury hotel, and if you go there in the summer it will cost you about a billion dollars a night. If you want to treat yourself, go as soon as it opens in the spring. Costs are then much, much lower, especially if you have an American Express Platinum card and can get even better deals on prices sometimes. I love that card so much. No, I am not sponsored, I just love that card. The upgrades and benefits and deals pay for the annual fee and then some every year. I can now often get great stays at luxury hotels for nearly the same price or not that much more than run-of-the-mill hotels, especially when you consider the monetary value of the perks (free gourmet breakfasts, free room upgrades, hotel credits, etc).
We drove out to the national wildlife refuge, our guide telling us all about the seals and seabirds and ocean plant life as we went. I only include photos of Nantucket Wildlife Refuge here, since that was the goal. Coskata-Coatue has a lot more of the same, with wider expanses of beaches and dune grasses.
Lots of seals! We would be as quiet as possible and not approach, but many would go into the water at the sound of a low voice or just the sight of us even though we stayed far away. Then some would swim toward us and stare from the water. They were cute.
Saw quite a few gulls on their nests. We kept our distance, of course.
There is one unnamed little trail from where you can park your jeep (on sand) to the lighthouse and past it to the ocean on the other side of the narrow peninsula. We walked it. 🙂
What a great day. I had been a bit worried about being able to get to this one, but it all turned out so well. I am now finished with the National Wildlife Refuges in Massachusetts.
