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Big Bend WMA

The five units comprising the Big Bend Wildlife Management Area-Hickory Mound, Spring Creek, Tide Swamp, Jena, and Snipe Island-filled a void in a 200-mile stretch of the Gulf coast already protected in public ownership. Hunting and fishing are traditional activities and continue to constitute the major public recreation uses on all of these lands.

Each of the units has a slightly different character and each offers its own special combination of recreational opportunities. On Jena, you can drive, bike, or horseback ride up and down ancient sand dunes to a dramatic panoramic view of exposed limestone, salt marshes, and the Gulf.

At Hagen's Cove on Tide Swamp, you can scallop, gig for flounder at night, picnic, and barbeque. On Spring Creek and at Tide Swamp you'll find the only remaining coastal scrub on Big Bend, and at the Hickory Mound Impoundment, you can crab, hunt waterfowl in season, and observe a diverse abundance of birds year-round. The 105-mile Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail offers outstanding opportunities for paddlers to explore the Big Bend gulf coast.