Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

Gray Lodge’s diver­si­ty and loca­tion along the Pacif­ic Fly­way make it a haven for wildlife. Sur­round­ed by miles of rich agri­cul­tur­al lands, the approx­i­mate­ly 9,100-acre area is man­aged for the wildlife that call Gray Lodge home for all or part of the year. Reflec­tive ponds, grassy fields and wood­ed ripar­i­an areas pro­vide food, water and shel­ter for more than 300 species of res­i­dent and migrant birds and mam­mals. Peo­ple of all ages enjoy vis­it­ing Gray Lodge!

Bird­ing

Wildlife view­ing is avail­able year round. Vis­i­tors can also enjoy edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams, infor­ma­tive exhibits, a self-guid­ed nature trail, and sea­son­al guid­ed tours. From Novem­ber through Feb­ru­ary, Gray Lodge is a pop­u­lar migra­tion stop along the Pacif­ic Fly­way for thou­sands of birds. Dis­cov­er a vari­ety of ducks, snow geese, blue-winged teals, black-crowned night herons, an oth­er water­fowl, and use the high-pow­ered tele­scopes on the obser­va­tion deck to get up-close views — just fol­low the paved path from Lot 14. Stay until dusk to expe­ri­ence the mag­nif­i­cent ​“fly-off” when thou­sands of them fill the sky.

Get more infor­ma­tion with the Cal­i­for­nia Depart­ment of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife View­ing Guide.

Hik­ing

You’ll find two easy, flat trails at the Gray Lodge — the first is the main 1.8‑mile unpaved trail, the sec­ond is a wheel­chair acces­si­ble paved trail that you can add to the main trail to slight­ly extend your trek. This is a great spot for those with kids, those look­ing for an easy stroll, and those look­ing for an amaz­ing bird watch­ing loca­tion dur­ing the win­ter months, with peak bird­ing Novem­ber through Jan­u­ary (so bring your binoc­u­lars!). You can enjoy two obser­va­tion blinds along the main trail, where you can get a front-row view of the wildlife from view­ing win­dows. Mos­qui­tos are abun­dant, so make sure to bring bug spray, espe­cial­ly if you vis­it around dusk. 

Fish­ing

Fish­ing is a high­light in the spring and sum­mer. Vis­i­tors can enjoy many fish­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties at Gray Lodge with its ponds and miles of canals sup­port­ing bass, sun­fish, perch, cat­fish and carp. All fish­ing is from the shore in accor­dance with gen­er­al fish reg­u­la­tions. The area is open to fish­ing sev­en days a week. From two weeks before water­fowl sea­son to one week after, fish­ing is restrict­ed to the Avis Access only.