The indexnightthe week of, at best
Manatee aggregations — Three Sisters Springs
Fires when 2+ consecutive nights ≤ 48F (NWS forecast)
Photograph Nonbinary-Naturalist · CC0
The weekly build has been paused since October 6, 2026. The seasons and dates below still hold. Events are the ones the last finished build found, in the week of 2026-09-13, that have not happened yet — anything announced since is missing, and nothing here reflects this week's weather.
- Where
- Crystal River NWR
- Drive
- 75 minutes from Lakeland
- In season
- November through March
- Peak
- December and January and February
- Certainty
- the week of, at best
- Drone
- no
Flying here
National Wildlife Refuges: Launching, landing or operating from refuge land is prohibited without a special use permit. Overflight is again an FAA matter rather than the refuge's, but disturbing wildlife is separately unlawful and a drone over a roost or a colony is disturbance regardless of altitude. Treat this as a no unless you have the permit.
From the field
Season is Nov 15 - Mar 31. Boardwalk needs no permit; refuge prohibits drones. Peak is the 1-3 days during/after a hard cold snap.