USFWS · Virginia

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia is located in the independent city of Virginia Beach. Established in 1938 in an isolated portion of the former Princess Anne County, it is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The administrative office is located on Sandbridge Road at Sigma between Lago Mar and Sandbridge Beach. The Visitor Contact Center is accessed via Sandpiper Road from the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach, which is the southernmost area of development on the Atlantic Coast of Virginia.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge8,788 acresUSFWSVA
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Lago Mar, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons.

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateVirginia
Size8,788 acres
FWS regionRegion 5
Center point36.75° N, 75.96° W
Night skyNoticeable light pollution (Black Marble reading 129)

Boundary map

37 outlines

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge40°50°60°70°80°January: 3.17 inches of precipitation, 2.2 inches of snowFebruary: 2.84 inches of precipitation, 0.8 inches of snowMarch: 3.57 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowApril: 3.37 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowMay: 3.65 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJune: 4.15 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJuly: 5.76 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 5.09 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 4.55 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowOctober: 4.15 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowNovember: 3.06 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowDecember: 3.26 inches of precipitation, 0.4 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 40.9°F averageFebruary: 42.9°F averageMarch: 48.8°F averageApril: 58.2°F averageMay: 65.9°F averageJune: 74.4°F averageJuly: 78.9°F averageAugust: 77.2°F averageSeptember: 71.9°F averageOctober: 61.9°F averageNovember: 51.4°F averageDecember: 44.7°F average0 in2 in4 in6 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Oceana Nas, 6 miles from the center point at 23 feet, station USW00013769 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 47 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 3 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Park System units within 30 miles · Park Atlas
Part of Colonial National Historical Park · 12 mi
Cape Henry Memorial Part of Colonial National Historical Park
National Monument · 25 mi
Fort Monroe National Monument
National Register listings within 15 miles · 29 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Virginia

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • Paddling Virginia and West Virginia
    Charli Kerns, 2019
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Backpacking Virginia
    Johnny Molloy, 2019
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Best Tent Camping: Virginia
    Randy Porter, 2018
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge?

8,788 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in?

Virginia.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 36.754° N, 75.964° W. Cape Henry Memorial Part of Colonial National Historical Park is 12 miles away. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Which national parks are near Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge?

Cape Henry Memorial Part of Colonial National Historical Park (12 mi) and Fort Monroe National Monument (25 mi). Park Atlas has fees, hours and alerts for each.

Source: Nearby on the other atlases

Are there historic places near Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 29 listings within 15 miles, including Cape Henry Lighthouse and Pleasant Ridge School Historic District.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
  • Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q4839062), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.