Las Vegas NWR--Headquarters Hedgerow

Las Vegas NWR--Headquarters Hedgerow

Visitor Center Trail Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701

Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge Official Website
Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge map

Tips for Birding

Across the year’s seasons, a wide variety of species may be observed within and from the Headquarters and Visitor Center (HQ/VC) area because it includes three habitats. The 0.6-mile Meadowlark Trail around the property periphery takes the birder (in a counter-clockwise direction from the trailhead) along the edge of the elm-shrubbery habitat, then skirts short-grass prairie, and arrives at a set of viewing scopes overlooking Melton Pond, an ephemerally filled playa north of the HQ/VC, before heading back past the vault toilet located opposite the trailhead. After significant spring rains and summer monsoons, water is most likely there, attracting waterfowl and waders. These very briefly-present waterbirds comprise a substantial portion of the hotspot species count. Though the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has mounted public viewing scopes overlooking the pond area, birders may want to bring their own spotting scopes so that they can move east or west along the fenceline for improved observation;  distance to the far shore of the pond makes identification quite challenging with merely a set of binoculars.  

About this Location

The Headquarters building has been unoccupied since the fall of 2019, and the Visitor’s Center closed for renovation (of flooring and the heating and air conditioning system); it is unlikely the VC will open before spring 2024. The pollinator garden near the VC entrance has been abandoned for years, though a few hardy globemallows and other wildflowers survive. The vehicular entrance gate is closed except during posted weekday “business” hours. Outside these hours, between sunrise and sunset, you may enter the property by passing between the gate and bulletin board via a sidewalk. A small parking area lies outside the gate.  

Wheelchair users should be aware that accessible portions of the Meadowlark Trail are currently not useable, though there is easy access to the ADA-compliant viewing scope overlooking the Melton Pond area.

About Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge

See all hotspots at Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge

Spanish for "the meadows," Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge’s history dates as far back as 8,000 BC when old-world Indians inhabited the high plains area.

Pueblo Indians also spent time living in this region, until the 1100s when drought and Apaches forced them out. In the mid-1500s, Spanish conquistadors and missionaries explored and settled the region, and the influence of Spanish culture is still felt today. Westward expansion continued in the late 1800s, and by the turn of the century, the Santa Fe Trail and the railroad made Las Vegas, New Mexico, the place to be.

In 1965, the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge was established by the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Action for the benefit of migratory birds. The 8,672-acre refuge represents one of the few sizeable wetland areas remaining in New Mexico. It is open to the public for wildlife-dependent recreation, including wildlife watching, hiking, hunting, educational and interpretive programs, and special events.

Here, the gently rolling prairies of the east abruptly meet the rugged terrain of the mountains, gravel-capped mesas and buttes, and deep, narrow river canyons. The high plains refuge is surrounded on three sides by steep, timbered canyons but within the habitat, there is short and tall-grass prairie, timbered sandstone canyons, piñon-juniper woodlands, wetlands, ponds, lakes, and riparian areas.

Above the timbered canyons, the refuge encircles more than 40 small ponds that provide tubers, seeds, and browse for waterfowl. In addition to the ponds, a number of springs discharge to the surface and support a variety of species, including several native fish like the Rio Grande chub, longnose dace, white sucker, and fathead minnow. These ponds are critical to birds migrating along the Central Flyway as they depend on the refuge as a place to rest and refuel during their long journey.

Nesting on the refuge are nearly one-third of the documented bird species found on the refuge, including long-billed curlews, avocet, Canada geese, mallards, northern pintails, blue-winged and cinnamon teal, gadwall, and ruddy ducks.

The sandhill cranes arrive in the fall as they migrate to their winter home. Bald eagles, northern harriers, and American kestrels are frequently sighted soaring above the refuge scanning the grasslands for prey or attracted to the hundreds of ducks and geese on the refuge’s open waters. Migrating shorebirds like long-billed dowitchers and sandpipers, probe the mudflats in early fall and spring. In the woodlands, wild turkeys wander in search of a meal, and on the prairies. Rocky Mountain elk blend into the grasses, home to badgers and ground squirrels.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

  • Roadside viewing

Content from Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge Official Website and John Montgomery

Last updated June 19, 2023