National Wildlife Refuge · Souris River Loop · Souris River loop; North Dakota's largest NWR (58,000+ acres)
Verified coordinates from the source record. Still confirm the current entrance and road status before travelling.
April to May for spring migration and grouse lekking; September to November for snow geese and waterfowl buildup
Peak months in the record: Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov
Pick any day of the coming week for sunrise, sunset, the low-light windows and the forecast at J. Clark Salyer NWR.
5-mile Grassland Trail (7 stops, interpretive pamphlet; the sparrow spot) and a 22-mile scenic route (18 interpretive sites through marsh, river bottoms, sandhills). Foot trails: 0.1-mile HQ trail to the Pool 326 marsh platform; Sandhills Walk access. Observation platforms.
Free
Deer gun season restrictions; gravel roads muddy in spring; hunting in designated areas in fall.
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
Raptors
Tap for recent sightings, where to go and today's light →
Low coursing flight over cattails at golden hour; gray 'ghost' males are a prize subject.
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.
2026-07-11 — Snow Goose
Thousands staging
Mouse River near Upham, J. Clark Salyer NWR · J. Clark Salyer NWR
Open source poston Facebook (opens in a new tab; older posts may have been removed by their author)