Cathlapotle Plankhouse Tours, Family Grove, Flintknapping, and Community Partner Booths:
Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Visit the Family Grove by the Plankhouse and enjoy activites designed to inspire stewardship and learn about Chinookan Culture. Visit our Community Partner Booths for information about nature, culture, ecology, and the history of our region, including a USFWS Wildlife Trafficking booth!
Beginning Bird Walk
Saturday 8:00 to 10:00 am.
Family Friendly. Join one of our Refuge Birders on a walk on the Oaks to Wetlands Trail. Gain some insights on how to ‘bird’ by sight and ear. Learn to identify some basic bird calls and other great wildlife observation tips. Great for fledgling birders and those newer to birding. Meet at the tent across the sidewalk from the Plankhouse.
Hands-on Birding Photography
Saturday 8:30 to 10:00am.
Carty Lake, $15 per person. Join staff from Pro Photo Supply and technical representative Steve Ball from Olympus on a walk around the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. This event is great for avid birders or anyone interested in learning more about bird photography and how to utilize everything Olympus has to offer. Olympus will provide a limited number of camera bodies and lenses for people to borrow during this exploration of the Refuge. Meet at the tent across the sidewalk from the Plankhouse. A limited number of spots are available, please register early. Registration required at http://bit.ly/2hoD13E. (Sign up by Oct. 4th)
Geology Walk
Saturday 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Join a Refuge Naturalist for a walk around the Carty Unit exploring fun and entertaining facts about how the Missoula Floods influenced the land that we now call the Ridgefield NWR. Meet at the foot of the pedestrian bridge.
Beginner Watercolor Workshop
Saturday 11:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.
Carty Unit, Carty Milk House front porch. In this workshop, participants will be guided step-by step through basic watercolor techniques: how to apply a wash, how to apply details with light and shadow, and the effect of distance on colors as they paint a landscape scene to take home. This workshop will be led by skilled artist and Refuge volunteer Ron Ward and is appropriate for upper elementary students to adults. Registration required at http://bit.ly/2hoD13E. (Sign up by Oct. 4th)
Pacific Northwest Ethnobotany Hike
Saturday 12:30 to 2:00 pm.
Join one of our Refuge Naturalists for an in-depth exploration of the native flora of the Refuge. Since Time Immemorial the lives of local indigenous peoples, wildlife, and oaks have been deeply interconnected. This hike highlights several of the major points on the Oaks to Wetlands Trail, including a massive ancestral oak, a cedar grove, Boot Lake, and the oak balds. Hikers should come prepared for an extended hike on moderately uneven terrain. Meet at the tent across the sidewalk from the Plankhouse.
Chinook Culture Talk
Saturday 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Plankhouse. Please join us for a special presentation by Dr. Jon Daehnke (University of California Santa Cruz) and Rachel Cushman (Chinook Indian Nation Tribal Council Member) for a talk exploring the politics of cultural heritage and public representations of the past, especially within the context of Native American identity and the legacies of colonialism. The discussion will focus on a collaborative book project between Daehnke and the Chinook Indian Nation that explores the challenges and successes of their efforts to reaffirm control of their own heritage.
A Stroll Through the Oaks
Saturday 2:30 to 3:30 pm.
Family Friendly. Join one of our Refuge Naturalists for a leisurely stroll on the Oaks to Wetlands Trail. Learn how people, place, plants, and animals are interconnected at the Refuge. Families and little ones can enjoy a Nature Hunt along the way and will get to meet an enormous ancestral oak at the end of the walk. Meet at the tent across the sidewalk from the Plankhouse.
Bird Language Hike for Adults
Sunday 8:00 to 10:30 am.
Join one of our Refuge Birders on an extended hike on the Oaks to Wetlands Trail. Learn techniques for reading the environment in order to open your ears to the multitude of ways that birds communicate through calls and movement. This hike goes beyond spotting a fantastic bird to learning how to understand these animals’ relationship to each other and their environment. Great for experienced birders. Meet at the tent across the sidewalk from the Plankhouse. Registration required at http://bit.ly/2hoD13E. (Sign up by Oct. 4th)
Cathlapotle Village Hike
Sunday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Join an archaeologist for an overview of the history of the Cathlapotle Village, and a walk out to the archaeological site. Cathlapotle is the Chinookan village that stood for hundreds of years on what is today Refuge property. Participants should come prepared for the weather and a three mile hike on uneven terrain. Meet at the tent across the sidewalk from the Plankhouse.
Traditional Salmon Bake
Sunday 3:30 pm.
At the Plankhouse. Join us for a blessing of the food, including drumming by members of the Chinook Indian Nation and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and taste the traditionally baked salmon and seafood stew. Sponsored by Columbia Credit Union.
- The new Port Trail gate will be open for BirdFest weekend! Enter the refuge from the Port, and walk to the Carty Unit, or walk from the Carty Unit out to the Port! (Don't forget, you can walk your dogs at the Port, but you cannot bring them on the new trail). The gate will be open from 10am to 4pm both Saturday and Sunday, October 7th & 8th only. 
and from downtown Ridgefield. Thank you to the Port for providing the shuttle! Park here and walk to the Carty Unit, or get a ride to Overlook Park and the Community Center! 
- Take a selfie leading up to or during BirdFest & Bluegrass - in town, on the refuge, or at our "Stop Over" Selfie station on the Carty Unit, and you are one step closer to completing the city-wide scavenger hunt! Finish the hunt and bring it back to Overlook Park for a prize! Post your selfie with the hashtag 
one for $5. You'll receive a raffle ticket that will enter you in a drawing for prizes. Winners will be announced following BirdFest.
Commemorative Buttons on Sale!
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The Refuge has received Emergency Funding to repair the landslide along the River 'S' entrance road that occurred last winter. 
1st! Your car is your blind, keep that in mind!
6. While the berries look ripe and inviting, please do not pick, eat, or remove anything from the refuge! Wildlife depend on these food sources, many berries aren't meant for humans, and some plants are treated with herbicides to keep them off trails. .jpg)
Each Wednesday for Fall, Winter, and Spring we'll be lopping blackberry, maintaining previous years' plantings, pulling barbed wire or fence posts, planting trees, or a mishmash of that and more, all while being chilly and rained upon. Sound like fun? You bet it is! What's more, we'll also be out among the geese and the swans on the last Saturdays of every month.
Enjoy 5% off at the Sportsman's Steakhouse and Saloon in Historic Downtown Ridgefield with your member card! 
