Birdwatching on the California Trail

Emigrants on the California Trail were introduced to many new plants and animals as they made their journey west. With over 2,000 miles of trail, through countless habitats, there are a number of places where you can have a similar experience!

The following places along the trail are noted for their birdwatching opportunities. When planning a visit, please make sure to check with the individual location about visitation hours and other details.

National Wildlife Refuges

• Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
• Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Modoc National Wildlife Refuge
• Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
• William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge
• Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge

National Forests

• Bridger National Forest
• Cache National Forest
• Caribou-Targhee National Forest
• Sawtooth National Forest
• Wasatch National Forest
• Modoc National Forest
• Plumas National Forest
• Tahoe National ForestRogue River-Siskiyou National Forests

SITES BY STATE

California

• Sunflower Flat

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Lassen Volcanic National Park

  Step foot on a spur of the California National Historic Trail. The wagon tracks have since faded but the story is forever etched on the landscape. This route welcomed a portion of the more than 250,000 emigrants who traveled to the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s in the greatest mass migration in American history.

Idaho

• City of Rocks National Reserve - the California Trail

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, City Of Rocks National Reserve

  The City of Rocks National Reserve is a National Historic Landmark associated with the mass overland westward migration. Emigrants traveling the California Trail would reach Circle Creek in the City of Rocks and nooned or camped. Some of these emigrants left their names on the rocks along the trail within the Reserve. The reserve is a great place to view wildlife along the trail.

• Massacre Rocks State Park

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail

  Massacre Rocks State Park received its name from a grouping of boulders that created a narrow break through which the Oregon Trail passed. Emigrants, fearing that American Indians might be waiting in ambush, named the boulders "Massacre Rocks." Skirmishes between emigrants and Shoshone Indians did occur in August 1862, but these took place east of the park. The state park still contains visible trail ruts.

Utah

• Bonneville Salt Flats Special Recreation Management Area

The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 30,000 acre expanse of hard, white salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake basin in Utah. This recreation area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Hastings Cutoff, part of the California Trail, traversed the salt flats.

Wyoming

• North Platte River Crossing

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail, Pony Express National Historic Trail

  North Platte River Crossing was one of numerous crossings used by trappers, traders, American Indians, and emigrants to reach Fort Laramie. In order to enter the fort, two rivers had to be crossed- the Laramie River and the North Platte River. Over the years, at least nine different sites were used to cross the Laramie and at least four different sites were used to cross the North Platte.

• Bessemer Bend National Historic Site

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail, Pony Express National Historic Trail

  Bessemer Bend National Historic Site, also known as Red Buttes Crossing, is one of the places where travelers forded the North Platte River, then 300 yards wide, for the last time and started the push toward the Sweetwater River. This crossing was used mostly in the early years of the emigration.

Nebraska

• Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail

  Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center offers a variety of tour options to make sure your crane viewing experience is truly magical. Crane Trust river blinds are located along the largest Sandhill Crane roost in the world. Located on the Platte River, near the emigrant trails, this trail site will give you a wildlife experience close to those who traveled the trails in the 1800s.

• Nebraska Audubon Society National Conservation Area

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail

  Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary focuses on conservation of the Platte River ecosystem and the birds that rely on it. Do you want to get closer to an authentic emigrant trail experience? Visit this trail site to view wildlife and the preserved Platte River ecosystem.

Kansas

• Alcove Spring

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail

  Alcove Spring was a favorite trail campsite near the Independence Crossing of the Big Blue River. Often, emigrants would spend several days here, waiting for the swollen waters of the river to drop to levels that were safe for fording. They found the area picturesque, with the spring originating in an unusual rock formation and falling over a rock ledge into a pool below. Emigrants carved their names in the rocks.

Missouri

• Santa Fe Park

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail, Santa Fe National Historic Trail

  Santa Fe Park preserves approximately one-quarter mile of Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trail ruts in the heart of the city of Independence, Missouri. These ruts align with trail ruts found a half mile north on the Bingham-Waggoner estate, a 19.5 acre museum and park, that is open to the public.

• Schumacher Park

  • Sites: California National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail, Santa Fe National Historic Trail

  Travelers on the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trails passed through what is now Schumacher Park as they journeyed through the prairie of the great plains. They passed through the south end of the park in an east to west direction during the mid-1800s. Today, no traces of these trails (no ruts or swales) remain in the park, but the park does provide a good example of how this part of Kansas appeared in the 19th century.