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Come, Take a Tour on the Wildlife Explorer!

Come join us for a ride on the Wildlife Explorer! Our new and beautiful tram is available for hour-and-a-half tours of Hagerman every Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm weather permitting. Our tours are as varied as our drivers. Each tram driver has her/his approach to the tour. and you may learn about wildlife, birds, history of the refuge, habitat, photography, you name it! To paraphrase, “a Wildlife Explorer tour at Hagerman is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” But you know it’s going to be good! Come see us! 

  • Lots of stops for bird-watching and photography.
  • Bring binoculars or borrow ours.
  • Weather permitting, seating is limited. 
  • Standbys accepted if space permits. 
  • Ages 6 and above.
  • Meet at the visitor center 15 minutes before departure. 
  • Please limit beverages to water only.
  • School, church, families or other groups of 6 to 8 people may request a special group tram tour on days other than regularly scheduled tram tour days

    Free, open to the public, powered by donations.

Reservations Required:

The New Tram

In the Fall of 2018 both Friends volunteers and Hagerman staff started noticing deterioration issues with the original tram--the Cardinal Express (CECE).  The CECE had been donated to the Friends by Dr. Carlos Araoz and his late wife, Eulalia.  Time, wear and extensive use was causing not only a need to replace the batteries, but also corrosion in the undercarriage that was only getting worse and looked terminal.  The Friends board of directors considered the issue and decided to begin a fundraising campaign to acquire a new tram.  Through 2019 funds were raised by the Friends via, among other things, a GoFundMe campaign and a more targeted effort aimed at prior Friends donors.  The effort, resulting in several gifts at the Life membership level, showed how loyal Friends supporters are.   Soon, with a little aid from the Friends’ general fund, the necessary money had been raised.  The new tram was ordered, delivered and put into service in February/March, 2020.  Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic has interrupted the tram tours, but only for now.  So, what name should the new tram have?  Well, the Friends conducted a “Name That Tram” contest and some 135 name nominations were submitted.  It took the 5 judges 5 rounds of judging to come up with the winner.  

And the winner is…. “The Wildlife Explorer!” The name courtesy of Mr. John Reynolds who won the naming contest.  Although the beautiful new tram carried only 116 tram tour passengers before the COVID interruption, it should soon be in full service again.  

Search for any word--do not use quotes for phrases

Events and activities hosted by the Friends of Hagerman are funded by donations and powered solely by volunteers.  There are no fees for admission to the refuge or parking; the refuge is open from sunrise to sunset every day of the year, drive on any road unless gated.

6465 Refuge Road

Sherman, TX 75092

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Kroger: Stop by the customer service desk at Kroger and link your Kroger Card to the Friends of Hagerman: the Friends will get rewards for every dollar you spend, at no cost to you.

Please add friendsofhagerman@gmail.com to your contacts to ensure delivery of registration confirmations, account information and the Featherless Flyer

Special thanks to Nancy Miller for the amazing photo of the Visitor Center 

See you at the refuge!

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