Located in the relatively remote area near the middle of the border between California and Oregon, the Klamath Basin is full of great places for viewing wildlife and the region’s scenery. The Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex includes six refuges covering hundreds of thousands of protected acreage. The refuge areas are surrounded by national forests and national parks.
Four of the refuges have some level of public access. The largest refuge in the area is Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, over 50,000 acres straddling the border. It was created in 1908 as the first refuge targeting the protection of waterfowl. There’s a 10-mile auto tour and six photo blinds for viewing bald eagles and a multitude of other birds. Slightly smaller than and just east of Lower Klamath is Tule Lake Refuge. Tule Lake includes 17,000 acres that are leased to farmers and indirectly help feed the visiting waterfowl. It also has a 10-mile tour for vehicles.
Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is located on the northwestern edge of the region and the northwestern shores of Upper Lake Clamath. It contains over 15,000 of mostly watery acres and is only accessible to visitors by canoe. Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge is the most northern of the refuges in the complex. It has over 40,000 acres and has places for viewing wildlife along the main roads that cross the refuge.
Two of the refuges are closed to public access except for occasional hunting seasons. Bear Valley Refuge is 4,200 acres of protected woodlands that are night-time roosting sites for bald eagles. Clear Lake NWR is 46,000 acres of fully-protected land, including 20,000 acres of open water.
Just northwest of the refuge region is one of the country’s most unusual natural wonders, Crater Lake National Park. Created in the caldera left by a volcanic eruption 7,700 years ago, Crater Lake was one of the early additions to the National Park system, in 1902. Crater Lake and the wildlife refuges are pretty much surrounded by the Klamath, Modoc, Fremont, Winema, and Umpqua National Forests.
The town of Klamath Falls, Oregon is near the center of the region and provides the greatest number of nearby places to stay, including hotels that are part of several major national chains.
