National Wildlife Refuge · Souris River Loop · Souris River loop (Des Lacs River valley, tributary of the Souris); 19,500+ acres of natural lakes, managed marshes, prairie, and wooded coulees
Verified coordinates from the source record. Still confirm the current entrance and road status before travelling.
October to November for the snow goose spectacle; spring for waterfowl and grebes; April for grouse leks
Peak months in the record: Apr, May, Oct, Nov
Pick any day of the coming week for sunrise, sunset, the low-light windows and the forecast at Des Lacs NWR.
19-mile auto tour (ND Scenic Backway) in two legs: South drive (11 miles along Middle Des Lacs Lake) and North drive (5 miles). HQ observation deck with viewing scope over Middle Des Lacs Lake. Munch's Coulee National Recreation Trail (1.25 miles; first 0.25 mile wheelchair accessible); spring grouse blinds.
Free
No waterfowl hunting on the refuge, but deer/moose/elk/turkey/upland hunting in designated areas in fall. Gravel tour roads can be rough in wet weather; limited pull-offs. No fishing on the refuge.
The notes on this page come from the guide's fixed records and can age. These links open what the managing agency publishes right now — always the last word on access.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (National Wildlife Refuge)
Agency pages are found by searching the place name, so the search may list nearby units too — no page here is a stored link to a specific trailhead or gate.
No access check recorded for this place yet. Once you have confirmed the current rules with USFWS, mark it here so you can see how fresh your information is.
This only records that you checked. It never changes the guide's access notes and is not a statement from any agency.
Nobody publishes an open fall-colour peak map, so these are the dates volunteers recorded coloured leaves in North Dakota — a handful of plants at a handful of sites, not a statewide peak. Use the official reports below for the wider picture.
Leaf-out and leaf-colour timing: USA National Phenology Network (usanpn.org).
Waterfowl
Tap for recent sightings, where to go and today's light →
Work flooded fields and pothole lakes at dawn and dusk for massive lift-offs; 'tornado' departures are the signature shot. Late March to early April concentrations can number in the hundreds of thousands.
Illustration, not a field photograph · Real photos on All About Birds
Waterfowl
Tap for recent sightings, where to go and today's light →
Family groups feeding in flooded fields and shallow potholes at golden hour; white birds demand careful exposure.
Illustration, not a field photograph · Real photos on All About Birds
Shorebirds
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Elegant wading birds; shoot low at saline shorelines at dawn for mirror reflections.
Illustration, not a field photograph · Real photos on All About Birds
These are historical public posts collected as supporting evidence. They are not live sightings and do not guarantee current bird activity. Photos are not copied here — each entry links to the original post.
No collected post is mapped to this place. Several posts name only free-text locations — see the evidence log for those.