chilkat bald eagle preserve

What an adventure, I have watched Bald Eagle on the High Plans of New Mexico watch them soar and swoop down for their prey, but never have I witnesses so many. No matter where you were you could see hundreds of the majestic bird swooping down for the salmon. Mid air acrobatics and daring dives were the norm. The drive is wonderful an absolute must for everyone. Locals call them “Buzzards in Tuxedos” because they will hop around a carcass until nothing left.

A very nice museum with 2 eagles and an educational program. Exhibits are worth spending time to see and stop for the video.

Frequent pullouts make it easy to safely view all portions of the Chilkat River in the Preserve. An amazing sight in the fall to see so many eagles in a relatively small area. You do need to be careful because some of the property along the river is privately owned and not always clearly marked.

In the fall, thousands of American Bald Eagles come to the Chilkat River for the last salmon run of the year. The salmon spawn up river, and the eagle claim the dead and dying fish floating back down river. Spectacular viewing of eagles fighting over the carcasses. Photographers' paradise. Easy to get there, as there is only one road out of Haines, and it takes you through the preserve. Several pulloffs from the highway for safe parking. Trail for walking along the river, but generally the pulloffs are where the action is at. No long trek to photograph the eagles. Get out of your car and start shooting.One of the pulloffs has restrooms. Most of the eagles are about 20 miles from Haines.

The Chilkat valley is an incredible place and scenery regardless of the time of year but, if you want to see the most eagles, you have to come in winter when the salmon are spawning. The 'window' for best viewing depends on both the salmon numbers and weather, specifically the elevation of the river. The lower the river flow, the more salmon are available for the eagles. This window generally runs from November to December but can last longer into late January depending on the year. The preserve itself has several pull outs for viewing as well as a boardwalk area near the river with a lookout platform. There are two larger parking areas with the first (closest to Haines) having a park service style bathroom (no water). The best area for viewing varies based on where the eagles are feeding as well as the river channel distance from the viewing area. The river channels are braided and change every year so you need to drive the preserve first to get a feel for where the gravel and sand bars are that are closest to viewing shoreline. The eagles locations change throughout the day.Eagles are scavengers so will eat live or dead salmon as well as steal them from seagulls and other eagles. If you are expecting the eagles to snatch the salmon from the river, it is rare. The highlight of eagle watching is the aerial combat that takes place when incoming eagles attempt to push eating eagles off food. This can range from intindating lower strafing fly-bys to full on attacks with talons out and resulting the the feeding bird being knocked onto the ground or into the water. Occasionally, the defending bird will do a acrobatic maneuver that is basically a backflip and lock talons momentarily with the incoming bird.If just viewing, bring good binoculars. If there for photography, a good digital zoom will get decent photos since many eagles rest in the trees above the viewing shoreline. For professionals, recommend 500, 600 or 800mm lens as well as a 1.4 or 1.7 telecoverter (depending on what body you are shooting with). In both cases, take plenty of warm gear including pack style insulated boots.

Eagles and more Eagles rafting with Andy of Haines Rafting Company was well worth it. Andy was great with his knowledge of the area and wild life was very impressive. He was on time with excellent equipment. Don’t miss the Eagles

We hired a car in Haines and this was one place we went to see. There were so many Eagles and I got heaps of great photos. If you want to see Eagles this is the place to go.

We tried to visit the preserve, but found the staff very unhelpful. It took them 10 days to answer an e-mail requesting basic information about the preserve. By that time, we made other plans to visit the Chilkoot River where we saw dozens of bald eagles.

We were here in August and I wish we could have been here in November when ALL the eagles come in for the season! We saw a few eagles, but not as many as I would have liked

Eight people on a rubber raft on a shallow glacial river rowed by a young, strong, experienced woman. Instead of seeing eagles at a distance in the tops of trees, the eagles were on little spits of land also in the middle of the river. The eagles paid no attention to us as they watched for salmon. The sandwiches and cookies at the end really hit the spot.

I saw many more bald eagles this trip than last even though we were technically too early for their arrival. The greatest "show" is in November as we learned, but still worth looking for them.

After taking the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines, we boarded a bus and rode along the river. First stop was lunch at an overlook with fantastic views. A short ride later we were boarding our rubber raft for a float through eagle country. We saw eagles flying and landing in trees, sitting on logs or the riverbank, and one eaglet in a nest. Very entertaining, and very informative. Our guide Scott told us there were two land use proposals for this sector: the eagle preserve or an iron mine. I'm glad the eagles won out!

Spent a few hours in a raft floating down the Chilkat River (8 miles) and enjoyed seeing many Bald Eagles soaring over my head or sitting on logs watching us as we went by.Absolutely incredible!!! They are so beautiful and graceful.

From our NCL Pearl Cruise excursions, we took a ferry to Haines and a bus ride to the Chillkat River for a float down the Chillkat River. We were lucky to have a very nice day and we saw sights that are hard to put into words...just beautiful. We saw 40-50 eagles, both adults and children, some very close to the float. Our daughter got some beautiful pictures. They provided us with a very nice lunch before we got on the float but did get bitten by huge mosquitoes, once on the river there were no more bugs. The ferry to Haines was very nice and also informative. The college student from UVM who was our guide did a phenomenal job. How they navigate that river is just amazing. After the float they provided us with a warm beverage and a delicious cookie. It was beautiful, relaxing, inspiring and an awesome way to appreciate the beauty of Alaska.

We weren't there at the right time of year. Nice little nature walk but not many eagles to be seen during mid-August. Eaten alive by the mosquitos and other biting bugs - not sure it's worth the pain unless it's "high season" for the eagles (November, I believe)