• Dunwich Heath (Suffolk)
  Antlions are rare in England, found only in eastern Suffolk. Because the English antlion population is so small, it is at potential risk for devastation due to human or other causes. (See Neuro News for details.) In the summer months the National Trust sponsors a holiday club at Dunwich Heath especially for children to learn about ecological issues. Activities include an antlion trek. Participants should take care to not disturb antlion colonies, and should limit their antlion enjoyment to observation—not collection. For more information about Dunwich Heath see the web page Going Wild in Suffolk, or contact the National Trust at telephone 01728 648505.

• Tartu Noorte Loodusmaja (Tartu)
  The Tartu Nature House is a free-time school which offers nature activities for school children ages 6 to 18. Their website (in Estonian, with a summary in English) includes a page on Sipelgalõvi (antlions). For more information contact: Tartu Noorte Loodusmaja, Riia 185A, EE2400 Tartu, Estonia. Telephone 372 7 428193.

• Les Dunes de Sable des Charmes a Sermoyer
  (Canton de Pont-de-Vaux)
  These ancient sand dunes are of biological, geological and archaeological significance. In addition to providing an excellent habitat for antlions (fourmi-lion) and other creatures today, the site was home for humans in the Neolithic period (c. 8000 – c. 3500 B.C.E.).

• Poggio dell'Arena (Provincia Regionale di Caltanissetta)
  This coastal nature preserve includes sand dunes where antlions (Formicaleone) can be found, in particular the species Palpares libelluloides. website in Italian.

• Kruger National Park
  Kruger is a vast wildlife preserve located in the northeast part of the country, along the border of Mozambique. While the park is more famous for its lions of the feline variety, antlions (nicknamed "shunties" by locals) are also readily seen there. Information on eco-travel, safaris, and accomodations in southern Africa is available from SA Tours & Safaris with African Alternatives.

• Parque de la Sierra y Cañones de Guara (Huesca, Aragón)
  This canyon park in northeast Spain is home to tarantulas and antlions (hormigas león).
• Parque Natural de la Albufera (Valencia)
  This natural park is located on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The Neuropteros section of their website (in Spanish) includes a photo and description of the local antlion species.
• Playa de Uir (La Safor region)
  Antlions can be seen in the sand dunes of this beach along the Mediterranean coast of Valencia. See the website Rutas Ecoturísticas (in Spanish) for information about ecotours in the La Safor region.

• Naturum, Villa Vera, Brunnsparken (Ronneby)
  The Naturum is a wildlife center located in Brunnspark. It includes trails, walking tours and a nature preserve where antlions can be seen. The center is open June through August. More information is available in both Swedish and English.

• Albany Pine Bush Preserve (Albany, New York)
  The Albany Pine Bush represents one of the best remaining examples of an inland pine barrens ecosystem in the world.
• Bastrop State Park (Bastrop, Texas)
  Site of the famous "Lost Pines," Bastrop State Park is an isolated timbered region of loblolly pine and hardwoods in eastern Texas.
• Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (Tennessee and Kentucky)
  Encompassing 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area protects the free-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries.
• Canyonlands National Park (Moab, Utah)
  Canyonlands National Park preserves 527 square miles (848 square km) of canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches and spires in the heart of the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah.
• Capitol Reef National Park (near Torry, Utah)
  Capitol Reef National Park protects the Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline, which extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). In May 2003 a reader reported that she found about 30 antlion pits at the trailhead to Hickman Bridge.
• Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)
  Located in southern Oregon on the crest of the Cascade Range, Crater Lake was formed after the collapse of an ancient volcano, posthumously named Mount Mazama. The park features 50 miles of hiking trails, an interpretive program and boat tours of the lake, from which rises Wizard Island. The 1933 Nature Notes from Crater Lake describe how antlions have adapted to this volcanic habitat.
• J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge (Sanibel, Florida)
  This refuge is located on Sanibel Island, a sub-tropical barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, just off Ft. Myers, Florida. It protects over 7,000 acres of mangrove estuary, populated with large resident flocks of neo-tropical wading water birds and migrating waterfowl, as well as alligators, otters and raccoons. Antlions can be seen in the refuge's many sandy areas, especially along the Indigo Trail.
• Gibson Woods Nature Preserve (Hammond, Indiana)
  Located in northern Indiana, Gibson Woods Nature Preserve consists of wooded sand dunes and small wetlands. Several rare and interesting animals can be seen here, including antlions.
• Hawn State Park (Ste. Genevieve, Missouri)
  This park is located in the eastern Ozarks (south of St. Louis) and features a 10-mile backpacking trail through pine forests and along Pickle Creek and the River Aux Vases.
• Illinois Beach State Park (Zion, Illinois)
  Located north of Chicago along Lake Michigan, this park protects the only significant dune formations left in Illinois. In addition to an interpretive center in the nature preserve, there are several hiking trails along which antlions are easily spotted during spring and summer.
• Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (Porter, Indiana)
  This National Lakeshore runs for nearly 25 miles along southern Lake Michigan, and includes beaches, sand dunes, bog, wetlands, woodland forests.
• Indiana Dunes State Park (Chesterton, Indiana)
  

  Naturalist Wendy Smith leads an "antlion safari." © 1996 Mark Swanson

  This park lies in northwest Indiana at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. The Nature Center's education program includes an "antlion safari" during which naturalist staff lead visitors onto the dunes to demonstrate how to find antlions in their natural habitat. Antlion safari hikes normally are scheduled in June and July. [Note: A five-minute documentary video excerpt of a safari is included on the educational DVD Antlion Safari, available for purchase from Swanson Media.]

  The Nature Center also has on display two spectacular antlion sculptures by artist Patrick Bremer.

• Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
  (Coulee Dam, Washington)
  The Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area contains a large section of the upper Columbia River in eastern Washington.
• Medicine Lodge Wildlife Habitat Management Area
  (Hyattville, Wyoming)
  This wildlife area is located on the western side of the Big Horn Mountains at the mouth of Medicine Lodge canyon. In addition to a nature trail, the Area administers the Medicine Lodge State Archaeological Site, including several Native American petroglyphs and pictographs.
• Red River Gorge Geological Area (Stanton, Kentucky)
  Located in eastern Kentucky, the Red River Gorge Geological Area contains the largest concentration of arches and rock shelters east of the Rocky Mountains. Within the area there are over 80 natural arches, historical sites, and miles of hiking trails.
• The Ridges Sanctuary (Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin)
  Located in Door County, The Ridges Sanctuary is named for a series of beach ridges that harbor abundant antlion populations.
• Rio Grande Nature Center State Park
  (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
  Located in the bosque along the Rio Grande, this park and wildlife refuge contains 270 acres of Cottonwood forest, meadows, and sand flats. Antlions can be found along the two miles of nature trails. The park features an excellent interpretive center and education program.
• Robert Cushman Murphy County Park (Brookhaven, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York)
  Part of the Peconic River Watershed, the park is directly east of the Brookhaven National Lab. A reader provided these directions: "Enter at the access point at the intersection of Wading River and Shultz Road, then follow the trail westward to a pond. [In the summer of 2004] the trail was 'littered' with antlion pits all the way to the pond."
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Empire, Michigan)
  A thirty-five mile stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, this park's natural features include forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena.
• Trap Pond State Park (Sussex County, Delaware)
  A mixed pine woods containing the northernmost range of Taxodium distichum (bald cypress) along the eastern coast of North America.
• Yosemite National Park (California)
  Yosemite National Park preserves almost 1,200 square miles of the central Sierra Nevada in eastern California. The park includes alpine wilderness, three groves of Giant Sequoias and the glacially carved Yosemite Valley. Naturalist John Muir writes in his book The Yosemite that he observed antlions on the northern (sunlit) side of the Valley even in the cold month of January.

  Books by and about John Muir can be purchased through The Antlion Pit Bookstore.

Note: The U.S. National Park Service prohibits the collection of insects in its parks. For more information on observing insects in the wild, see the National Park Service article, "The World of Insects and their Relatives."

Have you seen antlions in a park or nature center not listed here? Send it to the editor using the Antlion Pit's contribution form.