Klamath Basin Refuges
Far Northeastern California · near Tulelake · Shasta Cascade
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Nov–Feb for eagles & wintering waterfowl; spring & fall migration peaks
- Open year round
- Yes
What is here
- Wildlife
- birds
- Species
- Bald eagles (hundreds in winter), snow geese, tundra swans, ducks, raptors, sandhill cranes
- Amenities
- Auto-tour wildlife routes · Winter bald eagle concentration · Millions of migrating waterfowl · Visitor center & overlooks
- Best for
- A world-class winter bird spectacle
- Features
- Most wintering bald eagles in lower 48 · Millions of waterfowl · Pacific Flyway crossroads · Easy auto-tour viewing
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Remote, far from services · Bitter cold, ice & fog in winter · Long gravel auto-tour routes · Bring fuel, food & warm gear
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- drive
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- wetland
- Sighting
- 4
- Viewing notes
- One of North America's great bird spectacles — the largest wintering concentration of bald eagles in the lower 48, plus millions of migrating waterfowl on a Pacific Flyway crossroads
- Intl tip
- One of North America's great bird spectacles, in remote far-NE California on the Oregon border: the largest wintering concentration of bald eagles in the lower 48, plus millions of migrating waterfowl (snow geese, swans, ducks) on the Pacific Flyway. Watch from refuge auto-tour routes — your car as a blind — Nov–Feb for eagles. Far-flung and cold: sparse services, winter ice and fog, long gravel loops. Come with a full tank, food, and warm layers.
The guide
In the remote high-desert basins straddling the Oregon border, the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex hosts one of …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Klamath Basin Refuges — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 41.9, -121.8