Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
A typical Khettara well.
Jorf Khettaras
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Shadow Room
The Museum of Lost Tales
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Stock up on picnic supplies with a side of history.
Horton Bay General Store
Take some of Michigan’s produce home with you.
American Spoon
The local catch is delicious fried as well.
Terry's of Charlevoix
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California Davis Bats of Yolo Causeway

Bats of Yolo Causeway

Each summer, the migratory bats living beneath the bypass form "batnadoes" at dusk.

Davis, California

Added By
Anne Ewbank
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
“Batnadoes” form at dusk.   basykes/CC BY 2.0
Bats waking up for the night   sutekimama / Atlas Obscura User
Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.   California Department of Fish and Wildlife/cc by 2.0
The wildlife pass.   Cullen328/CC BY-SA 3.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The first Yolo Causeway was built a hundred years ago to take motorists across the marshy flatlands of the Yolo Bypass. In the 1970s, another species joined commuters in making use of the elevated roadway: bats. 

Every summer, roughly a quarter-million migrating Mexican free-tailed bats nestle between the Yolo Causeway's expansion joints. Kept warm by the concrete overhead, they give birth to baby bats between flights where they feast on insects above the bypass.

The nightly flights are a spectacle that draw Californians looking to enjoy the show. Sometimes called "batnadoes," long ribbons of bats leave the causeway at dusk every night, even flying miles up into the air to chase their prey.

The bats have ample food to choose from and are fairly well protected. The air above the wet, marshy landscape—which is said to be of one of the largest wetlands restoration projects in the American west—is thick with bugs.

Related Tags

Bats Roadside Attractions Roads Animals

Know Before You Go

Tours to see the bats at their best are given by the Yolo Basin Foundation. They cost $14 per person, and children under 15 attend free. However, the tours, which run June through September, sell out extremely fast. There is, however, a way to see the bats on your own. When driving west on the Causeway, take  32 A towards E. Chiles Road. Park outside the gates of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, and go up on the levee for the best bat view at sunset.

Community Contributors

Added By

Anne Ewbank

Edited By

Kerry Wolfe, sutekimama

  • Kerry Wolfe
  • sutekimama

Published

September 5, 2018

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bats-and-farming
  • https://baynature.org/2013/07/25/yolo-bats/
  • http://yolobasin.org/battalkandwalks/
Bats of Yolo Causeway
45211 County Road Rd 32B
Davis, California
United States
38.556101, -121.671988
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Same Sun

Davis, California

miles away

Davis Toad Tunnel

Davis, California

miles away

Solar Intersections

Davis, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Davis

Davis

California

Places 7
Stories 2

Nearby Places

Same Sun

Davis, California

miles away

Davis Toad Tunnel

Davis, California

miles away

Solar Intersections

Davis, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Davis

Davis

California

Places 7
Stories 2

Related Stories and Lists

21 Places to Get Closer to Bats

List

By Jonathan Carey

'Batnadoes' Can Protect California’s Crops

animals

By Anne Ewbank

Related Places

  • The Big Elk

    Stor-Elvdal, Norway

    Storelgen (The Big Moose)

    The world's largest moose statue towers above the highway between Oslo and Trondheim.

  • Farmington, Connecticut

    Shade Swamp Sanctuary

    An abandoned Depression-era zoo hidden just off the highway.

  • Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Street Posts Museum

    An unexpected public exhibit showcases the diversity of Dutch street posts.

  • Musical Road Ahead

    Palmdale, California

    R. Lee Ermey Musical Road

    The road plays 30 seconds of the Marine’s Hymn when driving over the grooved pavement.

  • National Route 66 Museum

    Elk City, Oklahoma

    National Route 66 Museum

    An Oklahoma museum that celebrates the history of the "Mother Road."

  • Bats at Campbell Ave Bridge

    Tucson, Arizona

    Campbell Bat Bridge

    A colony of Mexican free-tailed bats live under the bridge and take flight at sundown all summer long.

  • Another angle of Otto the Otter. Do not use this picnic table to climb the otter.

    Fergus Falls, Minnesota

    Otto the Otter

    The world's largest otter started his life as a high school shop project.

  • Fackler, Alabama

    The Rock Zoo

    Large rocks have been painted to whimsically resemble wild and farm animals.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.