The Northwest Central Washington Audubon Society recommends several birding routes within our four-county area: The map below shows the most common routes that people follow to access high-quality birding routes.
It is always wise to be prepared when you venture out to bird. All of these routes are accessible during the summer months and are likely to be open during the winter. You should always be prepared for driving on unpaved roads. Wet conditions can easily create very slick road surfaces. BE PREPARED!
You will find useful details about each route by clicking on the links for each area in the list below the map. Once you are on a map page you can zoom in for additional map detail and local information.
eBird “hotspots” are identified by small binocular icons on the maps. Clicking on one of the binoculars will provide a link to the eBird hotspot webpage. You can view species that have been observed at the site, the seasonality of birds (bar charts), and other useful information on the eBird pages.
Bridgeport/Brewster area
Chelan Area
Cameron Lake Road – Timentwa Plateau
Leavenworth Area – Lake Wenatchee
Lower San Poil River
Republic – Swamp Creek Trail
Swan-Ferry Lakes Area
Winthrop area
Waterville Plateau
Winter Raptor Routes
Winter birding requires a higher level of preparation and safety than other times of the year. While we always encourage anyone who follows any of our recommended routes to follow normal safety guides, we ask that anyone setting out on one of these winter raptor routes to go a step further and check road and weather conditions, make sure you have proper supplies in your vehicle, and that you let someone know where you are going and an estimated time of return.