This is a brand new facility next to Farmington Bay focusing on water fowl. It's open Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are no entrance fees. This is an example of the beautiful views.
This is the new center.
We had some difficulty finding it using Google maps. We wandered around the area until I called the manager, Billy, and he said it's not on Google maps yet because it's too new. Just go a mile and a half past Farmington High School and you can see it off to the left.
When they say the facility is closed, they really mean it. The trails are "open" after hours and on Sun-Mon if you can get into the area by climbing through this barrier. Otherwise, don't bother.
We hoped to see some beautiful views and maybe some birds. But we ended up providing a test case for the accessibility of the whole set up. Good news--we were able to park easily close to the building.
Next, we found the bathrooms to be accessible but difficult to open. I thought the door was locked but it just has a strong magnet holding it closed. The sign says heavy door and push hard. They are very nice restrooms.
There are two buildings. One has a large auditorium but it was being used and we weren't able to see it. There is a welcoming area and office on the right. There are large windows to view the birds as well as binoculars and pictures to help you identify the birds you are seeing. We only saw pelicans this time but there will be more birds passing through the area later this fall. This bay is on a major migratory flyway.
There are some small displays of local birds, too.
Walking outside, there is an artistic rendition of a pelican. (A certain amount of the budget is supposed to be spent on artwork.)
We headed out to see the one and a half mile trail that includes a boardwalk.
We planned to traverse the whole trail which is covered mostly with packed gravel.
You can go all the way around or take some short jogs into the pond areas.
This "blind" looked good but the transition between the gravel and the bridge was too high for us to cross on our chairs. They bottom out easily.
It was too difficult for Bill to get up there but I was able to take some pictures from inside the structure.
We heard good things about the boardwalk. We were concerned about being able to get through the loose gravel in front of it but we gave it a try. I took a run at it and was able to get onto the wood.
Unfortunately, the gravel was too deep and Bill bogged down there. It was something of a struggle to get his chair out of the gravel.
His back wheel was totally dug into the gravel.
I tried to help him and managed to get my chair stuck, too.
It was warm and we were tired so we went back to the center after we extricated our vehicles. Too bad. I really wanted to go over the boardwalk. We told the managers about our concerns before we left to go home. You might consider wearing insect repellent if you wander around the area. We didn't get bit or stung but it's a possibility. In spite of our problems with the gravel, we had a great time and enjoyed our visit.
