Grays Harbor Shorebird and Nature Festival

Plan to attend the next festival: May 1 - 3, 2026.

Shorebird Viewing at Grays Harbor

Snowy Plover - Photo by Tom Rowley

Grays Harbor is a prime area for viewing shorebirds and other waterbirds during the spring migration with easy access to look in the harbor and along the front beach. Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge in Hoquiam is ideal for seeing hundreds of thousands of shorebirds from the Sandpiper Trail as shorebirds move in and out of the tidal mudflat around high tide. If you travel to Ocean Shores you can make your way down the peninsula using beach accesses until you reach the southern tip (jetty) where a diversity of bird species can be seen.
From Hoquiam, travel west on WA-105 and you will begin your own migration with stopover areas to view a diversity of shorebirds, pelagic birds, waterfowl, and even raptors from Westport to Grayland and further south to Tokeland. Click on the links included here and you will find directions and information on other bird viewing sites around Grays Harbor. You won’t be disappointed at the amazing assemblage of waterbirds as they move northward to their breeding grounds or stick around to breed, like the snowy plovers!