The free 12-mile auto tour loop
Free Self-guided Best March to November
The heart of a visit is the auto tour, a self-guided loop of about 12 miles that runs west of Brigham City out where the Bear River fans into the marsh. It follows the tops of the dikes that hold the wetland units, so you drive slowly with open water and reeds on both sides and the mountains ringing the horizon. Most of what there is to see, you see from the car.
The road is flat gravel, fine for an ordinary car in dry weather, and you set your own pace, which for most people means an hour or more with plenty of stops. There are pullouts to sit and watch, and the birds are used to vehicles, so a car makes a surprisingly good blind. It is one of the few places where you can show a carful of people a wetland full of birds without anyone lacing up a boot.
The loop is open during daylight and free, with no gate and no fee. Conditions do change with the season and the water level, and stretches can be wet or closed after storms, so it is worth a quick check on current conditions before a long drive out.
The details
Getting there
From Interstate 15, take exit 363 and follow Forest Street west out of town. The paved road gives way to the gravel loop at the edge of the wetlands, so keep to the signed route and drive slowly once you are up on the dikes.
Before you go
- The loop is a gravel road on top of the dikes; take it slow and expect to share it with other slow drivers.
- Most viewing is from the car, which doubles as a blind, so you do not need to be a hiker to enjoy it.
- It is open during daylight and free, with no entrance gate.
- Conditions change with the season and water level; check before you drive out after storms.
The James V. Hansen Education Center
In the city Opened 2006 Free
Before or after the loop, the James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center is the place to get oriented. It opened in 2006 at 2155 West Forest Street, on the western edge of Brigham City between downtown and the wetlands, and it is free to walk through.
Inside are exhibits on the refuge, the Bear River delta, and the birds that pass through, along with an auditorium, a teaching lab, and a small bookstore. It is aimed as much at a family with kids as at a serious birder, and it is a good half hour that turns the drive from a pretty road into something you understand. Big windows and spotting scopes look out over the marsh, so you can watch birds without going anywhere.
Because the refuge is federally run, the center keeps a limited schedule and is closed on some days of the week, and hours can shift, so confirm the current times before you plan a visit around it. The auto loop, by contrast, is open on its own during daylight whether the center is staffed or not.
The details
Good to know
The center sits between town and the loop, so it folds naturally into the same trip. Start here for the exhibits and the view from the windows, then drive out to the wetlands, or duck back in if the weather turns.
Before you go
- The center is free and opened in 2006; it is the orientation stop for a first visit.
- Hours are limited and it is closed some days; confirm the current schedule before you go.
- Windows and scopes let you watch the marsh from indoors, good on a cold or windy day.
- The auto loop is open on its own during daylight even when the center is not staffed.
The birds and the seasons
250-plus species Spring and fall peaks Something year round
The reason all of this exists is the birds. The Bear River delta is one of the great bird stops on the western flyways, a place where migrating flocks rest and feed, and more than 250 species have been recorded here over the years. What you see depends heavily on the season.
Spring, roughly March into May, brings the big movement of shorebirds and waterfowl pushing north, and early summer fills the marsh with nesting birds and broods. The showpiece is fall, from about September into November, when huge numbers of birds stage here to feed before heading south. Winter is the quiet season, but it is not empty: raptors hunt the open country, and the birds that stay concentrate wherever the water is still open.
You do not need to be an expert to enjoy it. Bring binoculars if you have them, come early or late in the day when birds are most active, and let the car do the work. Over a full year the same loop shows you a completely different marsh each season.
The details
Good to know
Early morning and the hour before sunset are the most active times, and the low sun is kinder for photos. Whatever the month, there is something on the water, so there is no truly wrong time to come.
Before you go
- More than 250 species have been recorded; the mix turns over completely through the year.
- Spring and fall migrations are the peak shows, and the fall staging is the biggest.
- Mornings and evenings are the most active hours for birds and the best light for photos.
- Binoculars or a long lens add a lot, but plenty is visible with the naked eye.
The 1983 flood and the rebuild
Established 1928 Flooded 1983 Rebuilt from scratch
The marsh you drive through today is not the original. In the early 1980s a run of record-wet years drove the Great Salt Lake steadily higher until its salt water overtopped the refuge dikes. The brine drowned the freshwater marsh, killed off the habitat the birds depended on, and destroyed the refuge's then-new visitor center and much of its infrastructure. For most of the decade the refuge was, in effect, under the lake.
When the lake finally receded around 1989 and 1990, the refuge had to be rebuilt almost from nothing. Staff and volunteers reconstructed the dikes, the water-control structures, and the roads, and slowly coaxed the freshwater marsh back into the delta. By the account of the refuge's friends group and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it was a years-long recovery, not a quick repair, and the James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center, which opened in 2006, came well after the water went down.
It is worth knowing on the drive, because it changes what you are looking at. The refuge itself dates to 1928, when the federal government set aside 77,102 acres to protect the delta, but the wetland in front of you is a deliberate rebuild of something the lake erased. The birds came back because people put the marsh back.
The details
Good to know
Lake levels rise and fall over the years, and the refuge is built to manage its own fresh water behind the dikes. What you see on any given visit is that managed marsh, held apart from the open salt water of the lake beyond it.
Before you go
- The refuge was established in 1928 to protect the Bear River delta, at 77,102 acres.
- The Great Salt Lake flooded and destroyed it in the early 1980s; it was rebuilt after the water receded.
- The marsh you drive through is a reconstruction, not the untouched original.
- The Hansen center followed the recovery, opening in 2006.
The arch that points at it
The 1928 link Main Street A shared birth year
There is a nice piece of local symmetry to the refuge. The same year it was established, 1928, the city hung a lighted welcome arch over Main Street, and the two have been linked ever since. The arch reads "Welcome to Brigham, Gateway to the World's Greatest Game Bird Refuge," and it is aimed, more or less, at the wetlands out west.
That wording is not modern boosterism. In 1928 the brand-new federal refuge was a genuine point of civic pride, big enough that the town put it on the sign that greets everyone driving into Brigham City. A generation of travelers on the old highway read those words before they ever saw a bird. The arch still stands over Main Street, its lighting updated in recent years, but the message has not changed.
It makes a satisfying pairing for a visit. See the refuge the sign brags about, then park downtown under the arch that named it, and the connection between the county seat and the marsh on its horizon is right there over the street. Brigham City's historic Main Street is worth a slow walk in its own right.
The details
Working it into the trip
The arch and the refuge make an easy pair. Drive the loop, then come back into town and walk down historic Main Street under the sign that points at it. The full downtown walk has its own Main Street guide.
Before you go
- The arch and the refuge both date to 1928, which is why the sign points west.
- It reads "Welcome to Brigham, Gateway to the World's Greatest Game Bird Refuge."
- It still stands over Main Street downtown, with its lighting updated in recent years.
- Pair the loop with a walk down historic Main Street for the full connection.
