Owens Lake
Owens Valley · near Lone Pine / Olancha · Eastern Sierra
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Spring & fall migration (Apr–May, Aug–Sep); winter waterfowl
- Open year round
- Yes
What is here
- Wildlife
- birds
- Species
- Snowy plovers, avocets, phalaropes, shorebirds, waterfowl, gulls
- Amenities
- Major shorebird stopover · Dust-project viewing areas · Sierra-crest backdrop · Easy roadside/pullout viewing
- Best for
- Migratory shorebird watching
- Features
- Restored shorebird habitat · Tens of thousands of migrants · Dramatic Sierra backdrop · Easy viewing pullouts
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Hot, exposed, shadeless flats · Dust & wind · Remote — limited services · Bring water & sun protection
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- drive
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- wetland
- Sighting
- 4
- Viewing notes
- A once-drained lakebed transformed into a major shorebird stopover — shallow dust-control ponds now draw tens of thousands of migratory birds beneath the Sierra crest
- Intl tip
- An unexpected comeback story at the south end of the Owens Valley: a lakebed drained to dust when LA took its water, then partly reflooded by a huge dust-control project — now one of the Pacific Flyway's important shorebird stopovers. Spring and fall bring tens of thousands of avocets, phalaropes, sandpipers, and plovers (with winter waterfowl), beneath the Sierra crest and Mount Whitney. Easy viewing areas and a birding trail. Hot, exposed, dusty, windy flats with few services — bring water, sun protection, and binoculars.
The guide
Owens Lake, at the south end of the Owens Valley, tells one of California's most unexpected wildlife-comeback stories. Drained …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Owens Lake — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.4, -117.95