Birding Walk: San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Ponds (plus optional visit to Wild Birds Unlimited)

Join us for a walk through the Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds in San Rafael to see how many different bird species we can identify throughout a variety of habitats! Afterwards, optionally join us a few miles further north to check out Novato’s Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop.

The Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District is one of the densest birding hotspots in Marin County. The area is home not only to the eponymous wastewater treatment ponds (don’t worry, it doesn’t smell!), but also a patchwork of tidal mudflats, salt marsh, and agricultural fields that form a diverse habitat for local and migratory birds. We are likely to see a wide variety of waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds, and, if we’re lucky, we might also spot a river otter and jackrabbit or two.

The easy 2-mile trail around the ponds is flat but exposed with limited shade, so be sure to wear sunscreen and consider bringing a hat/sunglasses. See below for detailed directions to our meetup point.

Birders and nature enthusiasts of all levels are welcome! The group will be led by amateur birders and we will do our best to help identify our local avian friends. Please bring water, sunscreen, and binoculars if you have them. If you are new to birding, a great app to download beforehand is the Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Event Details and Directions

Las Gallinas Birding Walk @ 9am

We will meet at the picnic table under the gazebo just across the bridge from the parking lot at 9am. The parking lot is located at 300 Smith Ranch Road, San Rafael, CA 94903.

A few notes on how to get to the Las Gallinas trail meetup point: Once you turn onto Smith Ranch Road from Highway 101, you will need to follow the road until you cross the train tracks. Once you cross the train tracks, take a left just before the entrance to John F. McInnis Park and continue to follow the road past the soccer fields for approximately half a mile. You will eventually approach the Wastewater Treatment Plant on the right, and a sign for the Reclamation Ponds and Levee Trails on the left. Continue left through the gates and travel a bit farther around the curve until you reach the small parking lot on the left. There are portable restroom facilities available but limited parking; should you need to park outside of the parking lot, please make sure to leave ample access along the road and do not block any gates, driveways or entry areas. After parking, walk across the bridge to the right of the parking lot. The gazebo with picnic table will be on the left. See Hours & Parking - Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District for more detail.

Optional: Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop

After our walk, those interested can caravan with us to check out Novato’s Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop at 104 Vintage Way, Novato, CA 94945, in the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center. WBU is a locally-owned shop dedicated to the appreciation of birds and nature in the Novato community.

The co-owner of WBU recently published an excellent book called The Private Lives of Public Birds: Learning to Listen to Birds Where We Live, which highlights some of California’s most iconic backyard birds. The book will likely be available for purchase at WBU, along with a variety of essentials for your backyard birding needs! (No purchase necessary at all - our bird walk hosts are just excited to check the shop out and want to invite interested folks along!)