Joppa Flats Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary

Joppa Flats offers a variety of shipboard natural history programs!

The Joppa Flats Education Center is located at the gateway to one of the country’s most productive, year-round, wildlife viewing areas—the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and the Plum Island estuary. Highlights for visitors are the many species of birds that utilize the area’s extensive salt marshes, mudflats, rivers, bays, and coastal waters. During local area field trips, Joppa Flats program participants have recorded over 300 species of birds including the bald eagle, snowy owl, many warblers, shorebirds, and waterfowl. The new visitor center overlooking the Merrimack River includes second-floor observation areas—one indoors and one outdoors—a conference center, a guest services area, and interpretive displays. This sanctuary has the following universally accessible facilities: Nature Center, Restrooms, Garden, Banding Station at PRNWR.

Nature Center Hours:
The Nature Center is open Tuesday through Sunday, and Monday holidays, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For Your Safety

• Do not feed any animals
• Stay on trails to avoid ticks and poison ivy
• Do not smoke anywhere on the sanctuary
• Do not pick or collect plants or crops without permission

Avoid Conflicts with Wildlife

• Do not bring pets, leashed or unleashed, on to the site
• Picnic only in designated areas
• Do not bring motorized vehicles or bicycles onto the site
• Hunting, fishing, or trapping are not permitted

Admission:
Suggested Donation: $2 for nonmembers