Why did the River 'S' Unit feel so quiet in the first days of October? The refuge had just switched to its winter rules, and this is supposed to be the busy part of the year.
This fall the calendar and the water came apart. On October 1 the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge went to its fall and winter rules, as it does every year. The wetlands that pull migrating waterfowl into those fields were still mostly dry. The Reflector reported on October 6, 2026 that by Thursday, Oct. 1, "conditions had remained incredibly dry." It said migrating waterfowl had few ponds and waterways to feed in.
The season out your windshield right now comes from a fixed regulatory date, a hunting calendar that starts this Saturday, and weather nobody controls. Knowing which one is in charge on a given day explains most of what you'll see on the loop between now and spring.
The first clock: what changed on October 1
The four-mile auto tour loop at the River 'S' Unit stays open to cars all year. From October 1 through April 30 it is vehicle-only. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows three places to get out of the car: the entrance kiosk, the restrooms and the viewing blind.
The reasoning is practical. According to FWS, ducks, geese, swans and the threatened sandhill crane rarely treat a slow car as a threat, but a person on foot reads as a predator and can flush a whole group into flight, which costs them energy they need for migration. Your car works as a moving blind. The posted speed limit is 15 mph, and the agency asks drivers to use pull-offs when they stop so other cars can get by.
October 1 also changed the walking options:
| Trail | Status since Oct. 1 |
|---|---|
| River 'S' Auto Tour route | Cars only through April 30 |
| Kiwa Trail | Closed for the season |
| Carty Trail, Port entrance to Gee Creek bridge | Closed by locked gate through April 30 |
| Oaks to Wetlands Trail | Open year-round |
That leaves the Oaks to Wetlands Trail at the Carty Unit, off Main Avenue at 28908 NW Main Ave, as the refuge's main walking option for the next seven months. To reach it, park at the refuge entrance and cross the pedestrian bridge. FWS lists it as a 1.39-mile loop. It starts as a gravel-then-paved walk past the Cathlapotle Plankhouse and along a small lake, then crosses uneven ground through restored Oregon white oak woodland. The Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Plankhouse page, last updated in December 2025, said the building was not open to the public and that some programs, including Second Sunday, were paused. Check that page for current status before planning a visit around it.
The second clock: water, which hasn't shown up yet
The calendar decides where you can stand. Rain decides what you'll see once you're there. In its September 29 look at the River 'S' Unit, the Reflector described the refuge's wetlands forming as fall rain increases, with migrating waterfowl getting more plentiful as they fill.
This year that hasn't happened on schedule, and the effect shows up in the count. The Reflector's October 6 piece reported 119 bird species logged on eBird at the River 'S' Unit over the previous 30 days, compared with about 168 species normally found there over the same period. That's roughly 50 fewer species than a typical early October.
The gap stands out because October usually has the most variety of the year. The same paper's September reporting said a larger range of species historically shows up at the refuge in October, and the River 'S' Unit's all-time species count reaches 160.
The refuge has been working on getting water into the fields itself. In a report published in February 2026, the Friends group described a new, deeper well being dug beside Bachelor Slough to pull Columbia River water, because the old pump area had silted in. The plan included about 6,000 feet of pipe. The goal was to finish construction by the end of March, then connect and test the pump, so the wetlands would have enough water before fall migration. None of the sources we found say whether that work is done or running. For now it's a stated plan with no confirmed result. Whatever it delivers, the October 6 report shows that the first week of the month still ran on the weather.
The third clock: hunting season opens this Saturday
The River 'S' Unit also has a schedule many drive-through visitors never see. Waterfowl hunting takes place on about 760 acres of spaced blinds inside the unit. The connection to geese goes back to the start. FWS's hunt regulations say the 5,300-acre refuge was established in 1965 to "provide wintering habitat for the dusky subspecies of Canada goose."
The 2026–2027 hunt calendar runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The dates that matter for planning a drive:
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Opening day
- Thursday, Nov. 26: No hunting, holiday closure
- Late December into the first days of January: Hunting ends at 1 p.m. on scheduled days
- Saturday, Jan. 30: Last regular hunt day
- Saturday, Feb. 6: Special hunt
The calendar also says goose season closes early if the refuge's dusky Canada goose quota is met. On hunt days, hunters can enter 2¼ hours before legal shooting time and drive about a mile and a half at 15 mph to the check station.
What none of the published material covers is how hunt days change things for everyone else. FWS says the auto tour stays open to cars year-round, and the Friends group calls the River 'S' observation blind "open year-round." We found no FWS or Friends statement that public hours change on hunt days, or that they don't. If the timing of your Saturday drive matters, the refuge's own alerts page is the place to check.
The hunt calendar and the rain are connected. Just before this season, the Camas-Washougal Post-Record reported that Southwest Washington waterfowl hunters were watching closely after last year's weak migration, which the paper blamed on the lack of real winter weather. Hunters and wildlife watchers are waiting on the same thing.
What's on the loop while the fields are dry
A thin early October still isn't an empty one, and it has a different look from the winter crowds. On October 1, Reflector photographer Chris Barker caught a greater white-fronted goose crossing a field at River 'S', a great egret catching and swallowing a vole, a western painted turtle and its young sunning themselves, and a great blue heron on watch.
The September report added more detail. Great egrets often hunt close enough to the road to watch from the car, and there are plenty of first-year turtles out in late-season sun. Columbian white-tailed deer get more active through the fall, building toward the November rut, so it pays to scan the tree lines as well as the water.
When the wetlands do fill, the cast changes. FWS describes the September through December migration as bringing flocks of ducks, geese and swans, along with sandhill crane families, to rest and recover on the refuge. Bald eagles are part of the refuge's winter picture too. A Friends contact-station report published in February 2026 described many bald eagles of different ages visiting the refuge at the time. None of the sources we reviewed gives a 2026 arrival date or forecast for the cranes, so the best signal is still the one everyone else is watching: rain.
FWS's own advice for the loop fits a slow start. Drive slowly, use the pull-offs, and come back often, because learning where to look takes practice. A route you drive in a dry week and again after the first real storm will look like two different places.
Before the next drive
- Fees: FWS lists $3 a day or $15 for an annual Ridgefield pass. The pass covers everyone in a private vehicle, and youth 15 and under are free. Recreation.gov currently shows $2.50 a day and $13.99 for 12 months, usable at all three refuge entrances after you register at the kiosk. Confirm the price wherever you buy.
- Passes accepted: FWS lists the Ridgefield annual pass, America the Beautiful, Senior, Access, military and veteran passes, Every Kid Outdoors and the Volunteer pass. State and county park passes are not valid.
- Hours: FWS lists the River 'S' gate as open daily, "7:00 am to 7:00 pm, Sunrise to Sunset." The Reflector gives 7 a.m. to sunset for the auto tour at 1071 S Hillhurst Road.
- Alerts: The refuge's FWS page posts closures and access updates, and it's worth checking before any visit.
Brandy Pettet's family has been in Clark County for four generations, and the refuge's seasons are part of the Ridgefield we know. If you're thinking about what your next season here might look like, from a home near the refuge to a quiet street a short drive from Hillhurst Road, The Pettet Group is always happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.
