As is the case just about anywhere in southern Ontario, the birding is best during early morning and again in the evening when birds are most active and vocal and vehicle traffic is at a minimum. Birding is best during the breeding season, but species of interest may be found at any time of year. Parking at any of the various parking lots or suitable roadside pull-offs and walking stretches of the road can be quite rewarding.

At least 18 species of wood warblers are known to breed along this road in addition to a good selection of northern hardwood and wetland species, including some regionally uncommon to rare breeders like Swainson’s Thrush, Northern Parula, Dark-eyed Junco and Lincoln’s Sparrow. Barred Owl and Red-shouldered Hawk are both fairly reliably detected along the road, particularly near its eastern extent. In years with good cone crops on the Red and White pines or Eastern Hemlock good numbers of Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin may be encountered.

Around 6 kilometres east of Mississagua Lake Rd the Beaver Lake Rd crosses the outlet to the Beaver Lake Bog. Just beyond the outlet stream there is room to pull off the road. In some years Lincoln’s Sparrow breeds at this site and dependent on the conditions a singing male can be heard from the road. Alder Flycatcher and Purple Finch also breed regularly at this site.

The Beaver Lake Road extends around 8.5 km from its junction with CR 507 in the west to the Bottle Lake Access in the east. The road is paved for most of its length, winding its way through a wide variety of habitats from mature upland deciduous and mixed forest, mixed rock barren woodland, coniferous swamp, peatlands and some successional communities. Land tenure along the road is a mixture of privately-owned and Crown lands. Consult the Crown Land Use Policy Atlas (https://www.lioapplications.lrc.gov.on.ca/CLUPA/index.html?viewer=CLUPA.CLUPA&locale=en-CA) to see which lands offer public access. East of the bridge and boat ramp at Gold Lake, lands on the east and north sides of the road are within Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park.

The Beaver Lake Rd provides access to many private cottages on the surrounding lakes and vehicle traffic can therefore be frequent during the summer months, particularly on weekends, so it is important to find safe places to park your vehicle. There are several parking areas associated with the boat ramps at Catchacoma Narrows and the north end of Gold Lake, as well as between Fire Routes 253 and 254 and at the Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park’s Bottle Lake Access. East of the Gold Lake boat ramp, however, the road verge tends to be wider and there are numerous safe places to pull off. Be sure not park in any of the Fire Routes or to block their access, as these provide access to the numerous private cottages.

Between Fire Routes 207 and 209 (around 2 kilometres east of the Mississagua Lake Rd junction) there is a large, open area on the south side of the road. Formerly mature forest, this area was flattened by a tornado in early August 2006. The timber was subsequently salvaged, and the area has since been regenerating. Opposite FR 208 there is room to pull several vehicles off the road into a sandy clearing. Birding in this clearing can be good and, although now rough and overgrown, there are a number of log skidder trails that can be followed. This area is good for a variety of warblers, including at least formerly, Golden-winged, and Olive-sided Flycatcher has been observed here on several occasions.

Between Fire Routes 253 and 254 (around 6 kilometres from Mississagua Lake Rd) a gated forest track extends around a kilometre east from Beaver Lake Rd through mature mixed forest. This track is often deeply rutted and may be muddy, but it can be walked and is good for a wide variety of forest bird species.

Just a little over a kilometre farther along the Beaver Lake Rd is the Bottle Lake Access to Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. There is ample room for parking in the large gravel parking lot and a pit toilet (closed in winter) is present at the site. The trail from the parking lot to the shore of Bottle Lake is a little over 200 m and affords views of the lake.