On Saturday, October 10, 2026, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife closes the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area auto tour route to the public at the hunter check station. It stays closed there until one week after waterfowl season ends. A month earlier, on September 1, the Davis Wetlands off County Road 28H cut public access from daily to Mondays only.
Neither place is closed for winter. Both now run on a schedule, and the schedule is easy to learn. The Bypass keeps a shorter loop open every day. The Davis Wetlands open one morning a week. Two Sunday tours run by the Yolo Basin Foundation cover the rest of the month. And both sites open back up within days of each other in mid-February.
A winter week in the Yolo wetlands
| When | Where | What's open |
|---|---|---|
| Every day, sunrise to sunset | Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, 45211 County Road 32B, Davis | Year-round auto route, if not flooded |
| Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays | Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area | Waterfowl hunt days; check stations staffed |
| Mondays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Davis Wetlands, near 45400 County Road 28H | Public access, weather permitting |
| First Sunday, 9 to 11 a.m. | Davis Wetlands | Free docent-led tour, registration required |
| Third Sunday, 9 a.m. to noon | Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area | Guided driving tour, registration required |
| Christmas Day | Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area | Closed |
The hours and addresses come from the CDFW Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area page, the City of Davis wetlands page and the Yolo Basin Foundation's wetland tours page. CDFW says waterfowl hunting on the wildlife area is allowed on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The October 10 closure lasts the whole season, not just those three days a week.
What actually closes on Saturday
The notice from CDFW, posted on the Yolo Basin Foundation's Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area page, contains two statements that seem to conflict. One says the auto tour route closes to the public at the hunter check station. The next says the "main Auto Tour Route" stays open daily from sunrise to sunset, as long as the area isn't flooded and the roads allow.
CDFW's printable map of the wildlife area, dated August 2025, clears this up. Its legend shows two kinds of auto route. One is marked "year round." The other is marked open "mid February - early October." The hunter check station carries an "October - February" label. Read with the notice, the map shows the seasonal section of the loop past the check station closing, while the year-round route stays open. The notice doesn't spell that out in one sentence, so call the wildlife area headquarters at (530) 757-2461 before planning a specific route.
The reopening date moves with the season. CDFW's 2026-27 dates put Balance of State Zone duck season at October 24 through January 31. Add the one-week buffer and the hunt-season closure could end as early as February 7, though CDFW's map marks the seasonal route as open from mid-February. The notice warns that youth and veteran hunt days after the season, and flooding, can push that date later.
Flooding is its own variable, separate from the hunt calendar. CDFW says parts of the wildlife area may close from time to time in winter because of flooding, and it points visitors to its Emergency Closures page. The swing gates at the western levee access close at sunset.
Getting there hasn't changed. Eastbound on I-80, take the East Chiles Road exit and go a quarter mile east to the west levee access. Westbound, take the County Road 32A East Chiles Road exit just west of the Yolo Causeway, turn right at the stop sign, and head south under the freeway.
Mondays at the Davis Wetlands
The Davis Wetlands sit about a mile east of the City of Davis Wastewater Treatment Facility at 45400 County Road 28H. Weather permitting, the city opens them daily from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. between February 15 and August 31. From September 1 through February 15, they open on Mondays only, during the same hours. The city page showing those hours was updated on September 14, 2026.
Dogs aren't allowed. The city cites protecting wildlife and water quality. If you have a group, the Department of Public Works handles special group tours at 530-757-5686, depending on access constraints.
Put the two sites side by side and the pattern is clear. The Davis Wetlands go back to daily hours on February 15. The Bypass's seasonal route is marked open from mid-February. On a winter Monday, the whole system is as open as it gets: the Bypass's year-round loop in the morning, plus the one weekday the Davis Wetlands open their gate.
The Sundays carry the weekends
On the first and third Sundays, the Yolo Basin Foundation runs guided tours, so you don't have to work out the restrictions yourself.
The Davis Wetlands tour runs year-round on first Sundays from 9 to 11 a.m. The event listing gives the meeting point as the City of Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant, 45400 County Road 28H, and shows tickets at $0. Registration is required. The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area tour runs October through June on third Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon. An experienced leader takes the group past flooded seasonal and permanent wetlands, native plants and young riparian forest. Depending on the season, it looks for migrating and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, raptors and wading birds. Both are driving tours on gravel roads with several stops and the occasional optional short walk.
The Bypass tour season is no accident. It starts in October, the month the seasonal route closes, and ends in June, months after that route reopens. The guided tour covers the months when a self-guided visit gets most complicated.
Counting forward from today, these are the tour Sundays through the reopening window:
- October 18, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area tour, the first one after the October 10 closure
- November 1, Davis Wetlands tour
- November 15, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area tour
- December 6, Davis Wetlands tour
- December 20, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area tour
- January 3, Davis Wetlands tour
- January 17, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area tour
- February 7, Davis Wetlands tour, about a week before the Davis site goes back to daily hours
These dates follow the first- and third-Sunday pattern on the foundation's page. Confirm each one at registration.
Other walks on the fall calendar
The Yolo Bird Alliance lists a Davis Cemetery District and Arboretum bird walk on Saturday, October 31, from 7:30 to 10 a.m. It also lists a sparrow-focused outing in Yolo County on Saturday, November 7, from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The listings captured for this post don't include meeting addresses or fees. A Birding for Beginners walk is listed for October 17 at 8 a.m. The calendar labels that date a Saturday, but the event description says Sunday, so check the date with the alliance on its events page before you go. October 17 is also the date of a Discover the Flyway teacher workshop. That program's 2026-27 school field trips are fully booked, and a second workshop is set for January 23, 2027.
What's changing on the ground
The wildlife area itself is also changing. A CDFW Notice of Determination, posted January 20, 2026, covers habitat and drainage work on the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. The work includes water-control structures, water conveyance, road resurfacing, removal of ditches and crossings, and berm and access improvements at Greens Lake. The EcoAtlas project record, last updated July 16, 2026, lists the work as in progress. It says the project will add 220 acres of managed wetland, reduce flooding on the South Davis Drain and increase public access. Green's Lake and a new Cross Canal pump station and road work are listed as underway. Neither source gives a completion date.
The newest visitor facility is already built. This summer, the Yolo Basin Foundation moved its Bat Talk & Tour outdoors to the newly built Flyway Pavilion in the Demonstration Wetlands. After the talk, a caravan heads out to watch the dusk flyout of the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that lives under the Yolo Causeway. The California Aggie covered the pilot in September. Bat tours run June through September. The foundation hasn't posted ticket dates for next summer yet.
The next fixed date after the hunt season is California Duck Days, on Saturday, April 24, 2027, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 45211 County Road 32B. The foundation lists a $25 parking fee. By then the seasonal auto route will have been open for about two months, and the Davis Wetlands will be back on daily hours.
At Kevin Johnson, we spend a lot of time on Yolo County's back roads between Dixon, Davis and Woodland. Plenty of the homeowners we work with plan their winter weekends around County Road 32B. If you're curious how your home near the Bypass compares with this season's market, ask us for a Free Home Valuation. We'll walk you through the numbers on a schedule that works around your Sunday tour.
