This is not really a hike.  Rather, it is place that offers a spectacular opportunity to watch sandhill cranes and other birds.  Whitewater Draw is listed as a globally important bird refuge.  Crane watching is best December through January.  The cranes leave Whitewater Draw very early in morning and fly north to feed in the grain fields.  Then starting at about 10 a.m. they start to fly back to the marsh and the refuge it offers.  They are typically all back by noon and spend the afternoon resting on the mud flats of the marsh.  In my opinion, it is best to leave Benson about 9 a.m. so that you arrive at Whitewater Draw at about 10 a.m.  Probably there will only be a few sandhill cranes visible somewhere in the marsh.  But, by 11 a.m. the skies will be full of returning sandhill cranes.  (See a short movie of returning cranes.)  In a typical season there might be 10,000 to 15,000 sandhill cranes flying in and out of the marsh.  There are often a bunch of snow geese as well.

There are several trails around Whitewater Draw that are designed primarily for birdwatching.  If one chooses to walk the trails one can get a little exercise.  But the main features here are the birds and you will probably see that most people are observing birds.  Besides sandhill cranes there are many other species of waterfowl and shorebirds (See a short movie of Dowitchers.) and the trees are full of sparrows and flycatchers.  If you look closely in the rafters of the covered building you might be lucky enough to see the barn owl that frequently spends his days there.