After October 24, the Colusa Refuge Runs on a Hunt-Day Week

Two miles west of town on O'Hair Road, just off Highway 20, the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge auto tour crosses a small bridge beside a stand of button willows. Black-crowned night herons roost in those trees. At the far southeast corner of the loop, western pond turtles use a spot the refuge calls the "turtle pond," and sharp-eyed drivers sometimes pick out a goose wearing a research collar.

Waterfowl season opens Saturday, October 24, and runs through January 31, 2027. The refuge's published schedule doesn't close that bridge, the willows or the turtle pond to visitors once hunting starts. What the opener changes is the shape of the week.

The three-mile loop keeps its hours

The Colusa auto tour is open seven days a week, all year, from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. The one-mile trail, which runs half a mile out and back from the observation deck, keeps the same hours. The trail is a shaded walk through riparian habitat that ends at a small boardwalk overlooking a wetland. The parking lot has restrooms, an information kiosk, picnic tables and the deck. There's no drinking water anywhere on site. On the auto tour you stay inside your vehicle for the whole three miles.

Colusa is also free. Across the whole Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the only place that needs an entrance pass is the six-mile auto tour at Sacramento NWR, south of Willows. That pass costs $6 for a day or $12 for a year and is sold only digitally through Recreation.gov. A current Federal Duck Stamp or an America the Beautiful pass also covers it. Everything else is listed as fee-free, Colusa's loop and trail included.

Delevan NWR, the third refuge in the county, works differently. It has no public auto tour or trail. You can watch birds there from the bordering county roads, Maxwell Road and Four Mile Road, but the refuge itself is otherwise closed to the public.

Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday

During waterfowl season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa and Sutter refuges are "generally" open to hunting on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife runs those hunts through hunter check stations. Hunting happens only in designated hunt areas, and visitors may use only the posted routes, trails and lots.

Laid out across a week, it looks like this:

*Monday, November 16 is the exception. That day is a special pheasant hunt at Sacramento, Delevan and Colusa.

That leaves four weekdays when the hunt areas at Colusa sit quiet: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Saturday gives the most options in one trip, since the Willows visitor center is open that day too, but it's also a hunt day at every refuge in the complex.

The refuge posts alerts and closures at the top of its homepage and on its Facebook page as soon as it knows about them. The weekly grid above is the published plan, and those alerts are the current word.

The birds peak after the opener

The weekday advantage matters because the biggest flocks don't arrive in October. The refuge complex says migrating waterfowl start coming back in September and keep building until they peak in late November and early December. In late December, rain fills new areas across the valley, ducks start to spread out and goose numbers peak. By late January the massive flocks become less reliable to find as they move around the valley. The Colusa refuge page lists waterfowl present from September through March, with the highest numbers in December and January.

That puts the best viewing of the year almost entirely inside hunt season, about five weeks after the opener. In practice, a quiet Tuesday in early December is about as good as a visit to the Colusa loop gets.

The background numbers for this season are mixed. In February 2026 the Bureau of Reclamation set refuge water at 100 percent of contracted Level 2 supply, north and south of the Delta. The California Rice Commission estimated 475,000 acres of rice planted across the Sacramento Valley in 2026. That figure counts planted acres, not fields that will be flooded this winter. On the birds themselves, CDFW's 2026 breeding population survey, released July 31, estimated 267,101 breeding mallards in California. That's down 1 percent from 2025 and 18 percent below the long-term average. All surveyed ducks totaled 435,937, down 10 percent year over year. The department credited April rain and water carried over from 2025 for good nesting conditions and expects average production for most Northern California duck species.

Up the road in Willows, weekends are back

The other change this season is at the complex headquarters on Highway 99W, six miles south of Willows. That's where Sacramento NWR's 2-mile Wetland Walk and 6-mile auto tour start.

On September 16, 2026, Friends of Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge announced it had funded two full-time seasonal interns through American Conservation Experience for the migratory season. It's the largest single disbursement the group has made to date. Support came from its own funds, the California Waterfowl Association, the California Rice Commission and dozens of individual donors. One intern started September 8 and supports the hunt program. The second starts in early October and staffs the Visitor Center so it can open both Saturday and Sunday all season. According to the Friends group, the refuge hasn't offered weekend hours like that in years, and without the extra staff the center would likely open one weekend day a week at most. Those weekend days also open the Friends Nature Store inside the center, and its net revenue goes back to the refuge.

The announcement doesn't give daily hours. The refuge's Visitor Center page still shows "Summer, 2026 hours: Fridays, 10am to 3pm" and says hours change with the seasons. If you're planning a Saturday drive from Colusa, check that page the week you go.

When someone in the household hunts

Families with a hunter in the house deal with the same refuges through a different system. Reservations go through CDFW's Online License Sales and Services or a license agent at least 17 days before a hunt, at $1.34 per hunt choice under the 2026 newsletter. Hunters without a reservation can sign up in person for the vacancy draw at the check station from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Tuesday, Friday or Saturday before the hunt. If that doesn't work out, first-come sign-up is also in person, and no entry permits are issued after 3 p.m.

Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa and Sutter are all Type A hunt areas, and licensed hunters buy a prepaid Type A pass before they get to the check station. The refuge's hunting page says junior hunters are exempt from permit requirements and links to a full age-by-age breakdown. A non-hunter who comes along with a hunter doesn't need any license or pass. Flood-up maps, weekly quotas and blind results are available only in person at the check stations, and the refuge says it won't give them out by phone.

The fall and winter calendar, in order

1. Saturday, October 24. Waterfowl season opens across the Balance of State Zone.
2. Friday through Sunday, November 13 to 15. The California Swan Festival runs in the greater Sutter Buttes area, with guided birding, swan tours and rice-farm tours.
3. Monday, November 16. Special pheasant hunt at Sacramento, Delevan and Colusa.
4. Saturdays from November into early January. CDFW's Swan Tours in Yuba County run at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., led by a CDFW naturalist. Registration opened October 1.
5. Saturday, December 5. California Waterfowl lists its Colusa Waterfowl Legacy Banquet.
6. Saturday, December 12. Junior hunt at Delevan.
7. Saturday, December 19. Junior hunt at Sacramento NWR.
8. Saturday, January 2, 2027. Veteran hunt at Colusa NWR.
9. Thursday through Sunday, January 28 to 31, 2027. The 27th Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway takes place in Chico. Its site says details will be posted in December.

Most of those dates fall on Saturdays, so the weekday loop at Colusa stays the quietest option through the whole peak.

Many of us who live in Colusa County know the refuge best as a short drive out Highway 20 on a winter morning. If you have questions about land near the refuges, older homes in town, or anything else about this part of the valley, Jennifer Giffin is happy to talk it through over coffee. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.