Whether you wield a smartphone or a zoom lens, you’ll find photo-worthy subjects at the refuge throughout the year. Wildlife photography is a priority public use on national wildlife refuges. Merced NWR offers a 5-mile auto tour route and 4 nature trails, all situated and managed for ideal wildlife observation and photography opportunities. Stay in your vehicle along the auto tour route and use your car as a photo "blind." Wildlife have become habituated to slow-moving traffic on auto tour routes and tend to stay put; whereas, animals are more likely to flee from people out on foot because they are perceived as a threat.
The refuge features a photo blind that is accessible from the auto tour route. It is available on a first-come, first-served basis. If a vehicle is already in the photo blind parking spot, then that means the blind is occupied. The blind is positioned in a seasonal wetland that is flooded fall through spring and dry during the summer, making the winter months the ideal period to visit the blind to photograph ducks, geese, cranes, shorebirds, and other waterbirds. The photo blind may only be used for the purpose of photography.