Tulelake Nat’l Wildlife Refuge

I came to see the bird refuge and was guided by the GPS in what I thought was a circle. Well I guess it was a rectangle, at least it was a trip around the block, and out here in these fields the blocks are very large. Well I ended up down a dirt road, to a dirt road, to another dirt road. What look like a canal to move water with Reed on one side and birds in the middle was nice. I saw egrets I saw ducks I saw boots I saw birds I don’t know what they are. This went on for miles and miles. The birds were quite skittish, later I found out hunting season had opened two days previous, and I’m sure all the gunshot would make me skittish too. Then after lots and lots of dust, & I mean that fine dust that gets everywhere, I came to the end of the Reed and it opened to the huge lake. Ginormous is not a big enough word. Tens of thousands of birds spreading as far as the eye can see all sitting on the water. It was wonderful to see all the wildlife spread across the water. Yep the. dust was pretty dirty, it was worth it, I’d come back in a heartbeat.

Located in the hinterlands of California, this refuge (established in 1928) is a must visit for birders, photographers, and hunters. An estimated 80 percent of the waterfowl in the Pacific flyway pay a visit to the Klamath Basin. There are other refuges nearby, but Tulelake, is the largest in the basin and seems to me to have most diversity in wildlife.
I have been here several times in the winter and it magical, ponds full of snow geese, swans flying and all birds lifting away when an eagle is close.
This trip was in the spring and it was also a wonderful time to visit. The white pelicans were arriving, grebes and ducks were in the ponds, small birds were singing, ground birds were running about, coyotes were in the fields, deer were visible, muskrats swan by, and eagles perched on poles. I was not disappointed, spring proved to be a good time to visit. Early morning and dusk drives along the 12 mile refuge road enabled us to see a lot of wildlife.
There is a nice visitor’s center, with very helpful people. The young man behind the desk told us about a spot in Klamath Falls where we might see dancing grebes. There are also a couple of photo blinds on the refuge. This is a very special place. In the winter it can be crowed, but on this spring trip we were just about the only people on the refuge road other than farm trucks and tractors.

Beautiful wetland area. We only briefly visited on our way to Lava Beds. The visitor center wasn’t open when we came through, but we did the brief nature walk that starts by the visitor center. Wish we had brought a pair of binoculars to look at birds. There are a lot of birds. There are a couple of blinds provided for you to sit quietly and look at the birds. Couldn’t do that with two hyper and noisy kids. I felt so sorry for the one bonafide birdwatcher who was out there with us.
There is also a short trail that goes up to the top of the hill to another blind. We didn’t hike up that. View from there would have been awesome but we wanted to save the kids energy for Lava Beds.

Lots of wildlife. If you are an avid fan of birds, you should come here when migratory season starts. Saw wild rabbits, squirrels, deer, coyotes. Birds include bald eagles (rare though), falcons, many different types of hawks, turkey vultures, jays, gulls, pelicans, geese, ducks. It was not hunting season or migratory season in the summer i guess so the variety was much less than what people report.
Come here when migratory season comes. I saw pics online and the bird volume and population was immense.
Reported sightings also include mountain lions and maybe more bald eagles (we only saw one).
–Lots of insects like wasps, mosquitoes, flies, damsel and dragon flies. Bring insect repellant! Gave this place 4 stars because my husband got swarmed even though i used half a can of repellant on him.
–very little to NO network and mobile phone service in the Tule Lake area and in the town too. Print out your trip plan before you come here or into the Lava Beds Natl Mnmt. Or Fe’s B&B and few other lodges offer free wifi too if you stay over.
–best to get your petrol from the Pacific Pride Shell station on hwy 97 on your way here if ur going here from central or southern Cali. The Alliance station at Dorris and the pump within Tulelake is a REAL rip off! Thank God I got an extra jerry cans worth of petrol from the Shell.