Sometimes has a good concentration of wintering gulls.

This access point, which is the old Highway 14 crossing from pre-Red Rock Lake days, is no longer driving accessible but you can still walk the old road down to the water. It can be scanned from the narrow road shoulder if you are very careful.

The entire area is important as a resting area for large concentrations of migrating waterfowl, gulls, and shorebirds. The area is also critical as a wintering area for large numbers of Bald Eagles. Nesting birds include Bobolink, Cerulean Warbler, Black-billed Cuckoo, Wood Thrush, and in some years Kentucky Warbler.

The Red Rock Dam is about five miles southwest of Pella; the refuge area extends northwest beyond Runnells in Polk County to near Hartford in Warren County.