Updated November 26, 2025
CURRENTLY OPEN / CLOSED at Sacramento NWR Complex:
- SACRAMENTO NWR:
- Visitor Center and Nature Store = Limited days and hours (please read further down the page under General Information)
- Restrooms (at the Visitor Center & Viewing Platform) = OPEN
- Auto Tour = OPEN
- Trails = OPEN
- Hunt Area = OPEN
- DELEVAN NWR: Hunt Area = OPEN
- COLUSA NWR: Auto Tour, Trail, Restrooms and Hunt Area = OPEN
- SUTTER NWR: Hunt Area = OPEN
- LLANO SECO UNIT: Visitor Area, Restroom and Trail = OPEN
- SACRAMENTO RIVER NWR: OPEN
Visitor Center is Open - limited days and hours
Our new Visitor Center and Nature Store (operated by the Friends of the Sacramento NWR) is open on a limited basis while we complete the final components of our exhibit installations from earlier this summer. Thanks for your patience, understanding and support!
| Fridays - Visitor Center Only | Saturdays - Visitor Center and Nature Store |
|---|---|
November 28 - Nature store will be open! 10am-3pm | November 29 10am-3pm |
December 5 10am-3pm | December 6 10am-3pm |
December 26 10am-3pm | December 27 10am-3pm |
January 2 10am-3pm | January 3 10am-3pm |
2025-2026 Waterfowl Hunt Season
Our team has updated a lot of information relevant to hunting across our refuges on two website pages: Hunting and Hunting: Junior, Mobility & Special Hunts. If you have questions about hunting, check either of these first!
Curious about what to expect?
Check out our graphic summary on the seasonality of birds and water on our What to Expect - Seasons of a Wetland page.
Live Web-Cam
Questions: What's the weather like? Are there birds at the refuge?
Answer: Check out the Live Web-Cam at Sacramento NWR, brought to you by Friends of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.
Visit Us
Welcome to Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!
Sacramento NWR is the Headquarters for the Sacramento NWR Complex, and offers a visitor center with restrooms and a picnic area, auto tour, information kiosks, observation decks, trails, photography blinds (by reservation only), environmental education programs, seasonal bicycling opportunities, and hunting.
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is one of the 5 National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) and 3 Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) that make up the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex:
- Sacramento NWR
- Delevan NWR
- Colusa NWR
- Sutter NWR
- Sacramento River NWR
- Llano Seco Unit (Steve Thompson North Central Valley) WMA
- Butte Sink WMA
- Willow Creek-Lurline WMA
Use the table (below), the left menu (computer), or the top right hamburger menu (three lines on mobile device) to navigate to the information that's most helpful for you:
| Find Your Way Around | Activities | Hunting |
|---|---|---|
| Visit Us A one-stop place for all your visiting questions, including hours, accessibility, what to expect, passes and permits and more! | Auto Tours Trails Bicycling | Hunting at Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa and Sutter NWRs |
| Maps Directions Brochures | Photography | Hunting (RIVER) at Sacramento River NWR |
| Visitor Center | Education and Outreach | Junior Hunters Mobility-Impaired Hunters Special Hunts |
Location and Contact Information
About Us
The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, split across Glenn and Colusa Counties, is located about 70 miles north of the metropolitan area of Sacramento and 7 miles south of the town of Willows. The refuge consists of 10,819 acres of wetlands, grasslands and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitats.
What We Do
Resource Management
To help plants and wildlife, Refuge staff uses a variety of habitat management techniques to maintain, recover or enhance plant and wildlife values. Refuge staff carefully consider any management techniques and employ them in varying degrees according to the situation.
Conservation and Partnerships
The Complex is involved in many conservation endeavors, including Comprehensive Conservation Plans, Private Landowner Programs, and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act.
Our Organization
National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) Improvement Act of 1997:The NWRS Improvement Act defines a unifying mission for all refuges, including a process for determining compatible uses on refuges, and requiring that each refuge be managed according to a CCP. The NWRS Improvement Act expressly states that wildlife conservation is the priority of System lands and that the Secretary shall ensure that the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of refuge lands are maintained. Each refuge must be managed to fulfill the specific purposes for which the refuge was established and the System mission. The first priority of each refuge is to conserve, manage, and if needed, restore fish and wildlife populations and habitats according to its purpose.
Our Species
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is best known for migratory waterfowl. Migrating waterfowl are present September through April and numbers regularly peak at over 500,000 ducks and 250,000 geese. Sacramento NWR is an important wintering grounds for Tule Greater White-fronted Geese. The Sacramento NWR Complex provides nearly 70,000 acres of wetland, grassland, and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitats for a wide array of waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, waterbirds, songbirds, reptiles, and mammals. The Complex currently supports nearly 300 species of birds.