The Best Places To Go If You Want To See A Bald Eagle

Bald eagles are regal birds that are a joy to see in the wild. These birds were once a species that was considered at risk of extinction but, through successful conservation efforts, have been brought back from the brink and removed from the endangered species list. Today, the territory of bald eagles includes every state in the United States except Hawaii. So, if you want to take a trip out to see these magnificent birds, there are plenty of conservation areas and nature reserves across the U.S. that are great options.

However, during different times of the year, some areas have more eagles than others. This is because some bald eagles are migratory and leave their permanent residences when the waterways freeze over and go south to their wintering locations. On the other hand, some bald eagles are not migratory and choose to stay in the same area year-round if there's enough food available. So, because the migration patterns of bald eagles are a bit complex, let's talk about the best places in America to see these beautiful birds and when to go see them. Also, while you observe these amazing birds, make sure to follow the rules when watching bald eagles.

When it comes to spotting bald eagles in the contiguous United States, your best bet is probably Minnesota. Aside from Alaska, the state is home to the highest number of nesting eagles in America with around 9,800 nesting pairs. The best thing about looking for eagles in Minnesota is that it can be done year round. This is because the far northern eagles from Canada come down to Minnesota for the winter, while other bald eagles have set up their permanent residences in Minnesota and can be seen across the northern and eastern regions of the state during summer.

If you want to visit Minnesota for eagle spotting in summer (which is when the weather is the most pleasant and you can relax on the shore of one of The North Star State's over 10,000 lakes), the best places include Voyageurs National Park, Bear Head Lake State Park, and Superior National Forest, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. If you choose to visit Minnesota in winter, then you'll want to head to nature reserves around the Mississippi River, where bald eagles tend to congregate to nest during winter. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, one great area to see eagles in Minnesota from November to March is the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the Twin Cities. If you want to learn more about bald eagles and the conservation efforts around this beautiful bird, head to Wabasha to check out the National Eagle Center.

The Mighty Mississippi River has long been an important area for bird migrations and bald eagles are no exception. While the Mississippi River in Minnesota is also a hot spot for eagles, that doesn't mean we should overlook the other portions of this important waterway. In fact, many states bordering the Mississippi experience a huge rise in eagles during the winter months. This is true for Iowa (which only has 400 resident eagle pairs but gets around 4,000 migrating pairs in winter) and Illinois (which only has 30 resident eagle pairs and around 3,000 in winter). So, where can you catch these wintering birds in action?

In Illinois, many riverside towns host events and bald eagle festivals, including the town of Alton which hosts an annual Eagle Ice Festival in January. According to wildlife photographer Todd Gustafson in an interview with Audubon Magazine, the Lock and Dam 14 Nature Preserve in LeClaire, Iowa, is a great place along the Mississippi to spot nesting eagles in winter. Further south, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also recommends the Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi and the Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. If you want to combine all of this into one incredible eagle-spotting road trip, consider driving down the Great River Road which spans the entire length of the Mississippi River and is considered one of those incredible American road trips that deserve a spot on your bucket list.

When it comes to the state with the highest number of bald eagles, Alaska is the clear winner with a whopping 30,000 nesting pairs of these regal birds. As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service puts it: "In Alaska, which has 16 national wildlife refuges, bald eagles are almost commonplace." However, while there are lots of good places to spot eagles in summer in The Land of the Midnight Sun, this state is often a bit hard to get to for most Americans. So, unless you are already planning a trip up to Alaska to check out the Aurora Borealis (Alaska is the best place in the U.S. to see the Northern Lights), you can instead see some of those same eagles when they migrate south to winter in the Pacific Northwest.

According to Tripadvisor, Olympic National Park in Washington is a great place to spot eagles. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also recommends the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge which are both on the border of Oregon and California. In Washington, it's hard to beat the Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area which was recommended by wildlife photographer Bonnie Block in an interview with Audubon Magazine, because the eagles wintering in the area hunt fresh salmon from the waterways, giving photographers the chance at a truly incredible shot.

This state may be the most surprising on this list, but Florida is actually home to 1,500 nesting pairs of bald eagles, putting it in third place for the highest number of resident eagles after Alaska and Minnesota. The bald eagles in Florida are a little different from their northern brethren and, instead of migrating, often choose to live in the Sunshine State year round. So, if you are planning a trip to Florida, include a few days to a nature preserve to see if you can spot some of these warm weather bald eagles who typically build their nests in pine trees along inland waterways.

According to Florida State Parks, one great place to go to see the eagles is at Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park which is a little over a 20-minute drive north of Jacksonville. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends looking for bald eagles around the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Area, which is around an hour south of Orlando. Anecdotally, one Redditor on r/Florida writes, "the most eagles I have ever seen were at Ocala National Forest," which they explored on a kayak.

To find the places in the U.S. where visitors would be most likely to spot a bald eagle, we first looked at the eagle population per state as well as their migration patterns to figure out which areas of the country had the most during different seasons. Although Alaska is the outright winner when it comes to the highest number of eagles, Alaska is also the biggest American state, so the actual density of eagles in Alaska is not as high as other smaller states like Minnesota. On top of this, Alaska can be hard to reach and is often a bit of an expensive trip, so we decided to include it along with the Pacific Northwest which is easier to travel to for most Americans.

After looking at the states with the most resident eagles, we took a look at the states with the highest number of non-resident wintering eagles and examined migration patterns to see which states you will likely see eagles in the winter months. Although you can also see wintering eagles in the Northeast, Northeastern destinations were not as recommended by wildlife organizations as those in the Northwest and Midwest. Once we had narrowed down the major areas of the U.S. with dense populations of eagles, we looked to official federal and state wildlife organizations along with birding authorities to decide which specific wildlife reserves to recommend.