Lummi Flats & Red River Road

Photography

Best light

Evening lightOvercast

Recommended focal length

500–800mm

• Harriers and rough-legged hawks hunt the fields from late fall through winter. Your car makes a good blind, so stay inside when a bird is close.
• Short-eared owls hunt at dusk on calm, gray winter days; set up with the low sun behind you.
• In spring and fall migration, check flooded fields after heavy rain for shorebirds.
• Wrens and chickadees work the hedgerows and blackberry tangles all year; an eye-level frame on a mossy perch beats a bird against the sky.

Access

Parking

No parking lots. Pull fully onto the shoulder of the paved roads where it's wide enough, and never block field gates or driveways.

Trails

Roadside viewing only. Drive slowly with the windows down and photograph from the car or right beside it.

Restrictions

• Most of the flats are Lummi Nation land. Stay on paved public roads; unpaved roads and fields are tribal or private land and need permission.
• Don't walk into the fields, and never chase, call or bait owls.
• Farm traffic uses these roads; keep your car fully out of the lane.

Before you go

• Lens: 500–800mm. Pack spare batteries; cold drains them fast.
• Review the access restrictions above and any posted closures.
• Check the weather and, on the shoreline, the tide forecast.
• Keep a respectful distance. If an animal changes its behavior, you're too close.