Where to see wildlife migrations at U.S. national parks—by land, air, and sea

When we think about animals’ migrations, oftentimes images that pop into our minds are of zebras and wildebeest crossing the Serengeti during Africa’s Great Migration. Or, closer to home, flocks of birds flying high overhead, spotted from our backyards, or maybe butterflies stopping for some nectar.

U.S. national parks not only provide space for us to reconnect with nature and enjoy the great outdoors in myriad ways but also protect lands on which animals can stop over or serve as their final destinations during their annual migrations. According to the National Park Service, parks provide crucial havens for animals during their migration, providing vital food, water, and breeding grounds. 

Luckily, you can time your national park visits to see these migrations in person. Here are a variety of ways travelers can watch wildlife migrations in real time—by land, sea, or air—in national parks across the U.S.

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Wildlife migrations by land

North America may not have zebras or wildebeests, but it does have its own version of big-game migration. Gregory Nickerson, a writer and filmmaker with the Wyoming Migration Initiative, says that Grand Teton and Yellowstonenational parks are important summer-range destinations for animals like bison, elk, pronghorn (antelope), bighorn sheep, and deer.

“These animals spend the summers in these places because they can get the best nutrition they need for giving birth and nursing their offspring, growing antlers, and preparing for the next winter,” says Nickerson.

He adds that while animals typically migrate at night, once they arrive on the summer ranges, they’re much easier to see. In Grand Teton National Park, for instance, Nickerson says the pronghorn, which have traveled upwards of 150 miles, can usually be spotted between Kelly and Blacktail Butte, and between the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose and the Signal Mountain Lodge in Moran, Wyoming. He adds that the best time to see the pronghorn in these spots is between May and September. At the same time, bison are migrating north from the National Elk Refuge through the park towards Moran.

“Actually, the most spectacular [migrations] are the mule deer,” says Nickerson. “They are underappreciated because they're this small, kind of diminutive animal, but their migrations are absolutely incredible, going over these super rugged mountains from Cody, Wyoming, over to Grand Teton or the Wind River Reservation, or the wheat fields in far eastern Idaho.”

He says that mule deer begin their migration in late March, continuing through April and May, when animals can be seen near melting snowdrifts in the mountains. “By the first to second week of June, mule deer are on summer ranges, including in Grand Teton National Park,” says Nickerson.

When the landscape in Yellowstone National Park starts turning green in the spring, it’s time to see the bison with their newborn calves in Lamar Valley in May and June, “but the newborns grow up quickly,” says Nickerson.

“If you go there day after day, you can see how they've moved a little further and a little further, and they're grazing down that grass that's growing,” says Nickerson. “That's a really spectacular place to see [a migration], Lamar Valley.”

While less likely to migrate long distances, the National Park Service says bears will also move seasonally. In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, black bears move across elevations to find food, which is an example of how national parks support short-range migration, too. The bears typically emerge from their winter slumbers in late-March or early-April, and are most active in the park between May and August.

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Wildlife migrations by sea

According to Wildlife Heritage Areas, the Santa Barbara Channel, which runs about 70 nautical miles long and averages 25 nautical miles wide off the coast of Southern California, is “one of the more biologically productive ecosystems found on Earth.” One of 12 Whale Heritage Areas, the channel is an idyllic habitat for myriad marine life, including phytoplankton, fish, seabirds, and 27 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

The waters that surround Channel Islands National Park and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary are part of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area, making it a terrific place for whale watching year-round. Wildlife watchers can spot blue and humpback whales as they pass through the channel during the summer months (mid-May to mid-September), and more than 20,000 Pacific gray whales migrate through the channel every year (late-December through April) from their feeding grounds in the Arctic to their breeding grounds in Baja, Mexico. Whale watching can easily be done from land in the park, or visitors can join a park-approved concessionaire to get out on the water for a closer look.

Once hatched, sea turtles spend their lives swimming the world’s oceans, migrating from feeding and breeding grounds to warmer waters in cooler months. The largest species of sea turtle, the leatherback, can travel as much as 10,000 miles annually. When it comes time for females to nest, they typically return to the tropical and subtropical beaches on which they were born.

Several of those nesting beaches are in our national parks, which provide undeveloped stretches of coastline. In Texas, for example, Kemp's ridley sea turtles nest on the beaches of Padre Island National Seashore, more than any other place in the U.S. When it’s time for the eggs to hatch in the summer, park rangers invite the public to watch hatchling releases, typically mid-June through August. In Hawai’i, it’s not only green sea turtles that nest on Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’s beaches, but the rare Hawaiian hawksbill turtle, too. To aid in a successful nesting season, park visitors should avoid building fires and using bright lights when beach camping, typically mid-April through September. 

Manatee habitats are found in coastal waterways throughout the Southeast, from the Gulf region west to Texas, around Florida, and along the Eastern Seaboard to the Carolinas, and, on occasion, even as far north as Massachusetts. As winter approaches, when water temperatures begin to dip, the gentle animals migrate to warmer waters. According to the Save the Manatee Club, manatees can suffer from hypothermia and cannot tolerate water temperatures below 68°F for long periods of time. So, they seek out Florida’s freshwater springs where water temperatures average 72°F year-round. 

One of the best places to see manatees gathering in natural springs in the wintertime is Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, the only national wildlife refuge in the U.S., created to protect the manatees’ natural habitat, about an hour north of Tampa. An elevated, accessible, quarter-mile boardwalk provides a bird’s eye view of the manatees in the incredibly crystal-clear water. The refuge’s “manatee season” runs from November 15 through March 31.

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Wildlife migration by air

“Migration burns a lot of calories,” Chad Wilsey, chief scientist at the National Audubon Society, explains of bird migrations. “Some birds migrate tens of thousands of miles each way, depending on the season. To survive over open water or inhospitable terrain, birds need to build fat reserves by gorging on energy-rich food sources that keep them fueled until their next feeding opportunity. 

“Depending on the migration and species, finding shelter along the way is critical to a successful migration,” he continues. “Shelter is a safe place to rest away from predators and with suitable food and water access to refuel for the next leg of the journey. We can think of stopover habitat as the hotels and restaurants that birds need during their migrations.”

To that end, Giocomo says that while national parks represent only a small percentage of total landmass, they are highly protected, high-integrity core habitats that serve as safe, low-disturbance refuges. 

“Their significance lies not just in what they protect internally, but in how they function as part of a larger, connected landscape system that enables migration at continental scales,” he explains. “National parks punch far above their weight—they are small in acreage but essential for maintaining continental migration systems.”

Scott Weidensaul, an author, ornithologist, and elected fellow of the American Ornithological Society, says that there are about four billion songbirds migrating north across North America in March, April, and May, and that there’s literally not a square mile of land or airspace that is not used in birds’ migration routes.

“National parks serve as high-quality anchor habitats within BirdScapes, supporting key phases of migration while relying on surrounding working lands to maintain connectivity across the full annual cycle,” says James J. Giocomo, Ph.D., central region director for American Bird Conservancy. “They serve as breeding grounds, stopover/refueling sites, and winter refugia.  Migration success depends not just on protected areas, but on the working lands, coastlines, and corridors that link them into a functional network.”

Wisley’s top tip for bird watchers is to use the Bird Migration Explorer, which allows users to predict when specific bird species are more likely to be observed in a given location. 

“It also allows users to learn about hundreds of species of migratory birds, including their incredible migration pathways, the conservation challenges they face, and the hemispheric connections that they make,” he says.

More than 450 species of birds pass through or nest in Big Bend National Park, with peak migration typically the last two weeks of April through the first two weeks of May. Hard-to-spot species include the Lucifer Hummingbird, Varied Bunting, Green Kingfisher, and Crissal Thrasher. With its diverse habitats, Death Valley National Park is a prime spot for spring migration, which begins as early as the first of March with peak northbound travel from late-April to early-May, and nesting through July.

More than 350 species have been spotted in the park; a bird-watching platform at Furnace Creek Ranch makes for easy viewing. Migratory birds account for more than 360 species that have been seen in Everglades National Park, including warblers and Roseate Spoonbills. Budding ornithologists who double as photographers can take great shots from the Anhinga Trail, while the Gumbo Limbo Trail is known for sighting migrating songbirds. Birds’ peak spring migration through the Everglades is in April, while fall migration reaches its peak in September.

And then there are the butterflies. Monarch butterflies migrate year-round, passing through Ozark National Scenic Riverways in the spring, Shenandoah National Park in the summer, Acadia National Park in the fall, and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in the winter. In the West, Monarchs overwinter in the likes of Pinnacles and YosemiteNational Parks. 

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