Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve is a natural reserve encompassing the Tijuana River Estuary

Tijuana River Estuary

The Tijuana River Estuary is an intertidal coastal wetland in San Diego County, California, USA bordering Tijuana, Baja California. It is the location of the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. The estuary is a shallow water habitat...

, located on the Mexico – United States border, in Imperial Beach

Imperial Beach, California

Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the most southern beach city in Southern California and the West Coast of the United States...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

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Access and features

It can be accessed from the Coronado Avenue exit (Exit 4) from Interstate 5

Interstate 5

Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...

. It is established as part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve

National Estuarine Research Reserve

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a program of the United States government. The program establishes federal-state partnerships under the Coastal Zone Management Act to create a system of estuarine research reserves representative of the various regions and estuarine types in the...

 system in the United States and managed in part as a Biological Field Station by San Diego State University (SDSU)'s

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

 College of Sciences

San Diego State University College of Sciences

The San Diego State University College of Sciences is the San Diego region's largest center for science education and research. Comprising eight departments and various specialties, the College offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, as well as curricula for pre-professional students in...

. The water flow of Tijuana River

Tijuana River

The Tijuana River is an intermittent river, 120 mi long, on the Pacific coast of northern Baja California in Mexico and southern California in the United States.-Location:...

 is often intense; droughts dry up the river completely while the same area overflows during flood.

Recreational and educational activities

This reserve is a good place for bird-watching since as many as 370 bird species, whether they're native or migrating, use it as a stopover or breeding. Schoolchildren often come to this reserve to take nature classes in classrooms and excursions. Visitors of all ages can come to the visitor center for activities. Among the activities are videos that can be shown upon request, and it is shown in both English and Spanish. Guests can also take a walk on North and South McCoy trails, where they can access primary bird-watching areas and the mouth of Tijuana River, where it empties directly into Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

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