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Starting on Saturday, April 4 and lasting through mid-September, the regular Auto Tour Route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge will temporarily close. An alternate Auto Tour Route will be available to visitors while water control structures along the regular route are improved and replaced. Similar to the regular Auto Tour Route, this alternate route is a 12-mile, one-way vehicle route easily accessible from West Forest Street. Maps will be available at all Refuge kiosks and at the Visitor Center while the alternate route is open.
The alternative Auto Tour Route is in an area of the Refuge normally closed to the public and vehicles. The route will take visitors down the Refuge's O-Line Canal Road and onto the D-Line Canal Road which connects the Refuge to the Great Salt Lake. These normally closed roads will allow visitors glimpses of a wide variety of wildlife including many nesting bird species such as the American avocet and other migratory shorebirds.
The Refuge's regular Auto Tour Route and Unit 2 will re-open and be available for public use by the start of Northern Utah's youth waterfowl hunt opening weekend. The normal Auto Tour Route's Day-Use Area will also remain open throughout the duration of the maintenance project enabling visitors to still utilize that area for fishing, birding, and outdoor recreation.
Visitors will still be able to enjoy outdoor recreation activities in all other open areas of the Refuge during the regular Auto Tour Route closure. For more information, and to talk with staff directly about the route, please join us on Saturday, April 4 for our Freedom 250 event to celebrate America's 250 anniversary with the grand opening of the temporary Auto Tour Route. Thank you for your commitment to the Refuge as we update and make your public lands safer and more accessible.