Surrounded by almond orchards 50 miles northwest of Bakersfield, Kern National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a lesser-known gem. The Auto Route has some (small) potholes and cell service is limited. No visitor center is available, but accessible bathrooms are located at the office and portable toilets are present.

Tall and graceful gray sandhill cranes, and loud, squat white snow geese spend the winter by the tens of thousands at Merced NWR. There is a 5-mile Auto Tour Route that loops between wetlands and fields, and four short trails. Accessible bathrooms and an observation deck with a ramp are located at the beginning of the wildlife drive and at the parking lot halfway around.

At San Luis NWR, car birders are spoilt for choice. A visitor center has interactive exhibits about birds, tule elk, and the area’s ecology, and an indoor viewing area with comfy armchairs and binoculars. Accessible bathrooms are available here.

Managed by the California Department of Fish and Game, Gray Lodge feels remote, with the rugged Sutter Buttes looming nearby. A 3-mile Auto Tour Loop, beginning at Parking Lot #14, passes marshes and sloughs full of geese. There are two indoor viewing blinds near Parking Lot #18, with a bench and ledge available for resting.

Only a 45-minute drive from Gray Lodge, Sacramento NWR is the winter home for 250,000 geese, 500,000 ducks, and—if you’re lucky—you may even spot a few bald eagles. (Their famous white heads only appear after the eagle is about 4 years old; younger than that, they are all dark brown, or a mottled brown and white.) Incredibly scenic on a clear day, snow-capped mountains of the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada may be visible to the east and west.